Department for Transport

Railways: Electrification

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect of a rolling programme of rail electrification on (a) job creation and (b) investment levels.

Wendy Morton: Electrification will play an important role in improving our railways, and we understand the importance of a visible pipeline of work, and the potential benefits of a smooth delivery profile, both for electrification and alternative traction technologies.

Railways: Electrification

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a rolling programme of rail electrification for the purposes of (a) reaching the UK’s transport decarbonisation targets and (b) providing value for money from spending of public funds.

Wendy Morton: Electrification will play an important role in improving our railways, and we understand the importance of a visible pipeline of work, and the potential benefits of a smooth delivery profile, both for electrification and alternative traction technologies.

Aviation: Air Pollution

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to take steps in response to the British Airline Pilots’ Association call for a comprehensive research trial into the (a) potential effect of aviation induced cloudiness on the environment and (b) effectiveness of proposed mitigation methods.

Robert Courts: The latest research on the impacts of non-carbon dioxide aircraft emissions suggests that there remain significant uncertainties on their impact on the environment, and the effectiveness of proposed mitigation methods. However, the Government will continue to consider the research as it progresses.

Transport: Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much core funding his Department has allocated to each Sub National Transport Body (a) in each of the last five years (b) over the next three years.

Trudy Harrison: The table below sets out how much core funding the Department for Transport has allocated to each Sub-National Transport Body (STB) in each of the last five years, and the core funding allocations for the upcoming financial year. Where no figure has been provided, the STB had not yet been formally established.STB17/1818/1919/2020/2121/2222/23Transport for the North£10m*£10m£10m£7m£6m£6.5mMidlands Connect£3m£5m£4m£5m£5m£5mTransport for the South-East£100k£1m£500k£1.225m£1.225m£1.725mEngland’s Economic Heartland£100k£1m£500k£500k£900k£1.350mTransport EastN/AN/AN/A£425k£520k£762kWestern GatewayN/AN/AN/A£425k£425k£605kPeninsula TransportN/AN/AN/A£425k£425k£585k *This was provided to the Transport for the North Partnership Board, prior to TfN being established as a statutory body. Whilst all non-statutory STBs have received an indicative projection of their funding across the Spending Review period, actual funding will be subject to an approved workplan and good performance over the previous Financial Year.

National Highways: Tree Felling

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many mature trees have been felled by National Highways and its predecessors in each year since 2010.

Trudy Harrison: National Highways does not have numbers of mature trees felled in management and maintenance or road improvement projects. Trees on National Highways’ land may be felled for various reasons following specialist arboricultural advice, or for safety reasons to remove damaged, dead, diseased or dying trees that could pose a hazard to public safety. In the construction of road projects, National Highways seeks to retain existing trees where possible to minimise landscape change and biodiversity impacts. Where this is not possible, changes are documented in the project’s environmental assessment.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Standards

Bim Afolami: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to tackle all (a) backlogs and (b) delays at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Trudy Harrison: The quickest and easiest way to transact with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is by using its extensive suite of online services. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their documents within a few days. However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application and the DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day. The Government understands the impact that delays in processing paper applications can have on the daily lives of individuals and the DVLA is working hard to reduce waiting times. The DVLA has introduced additional online services, recruited more staff, increased overtime working and has opened new customer service centres in Swansea and Birmingham to reduce backlogs and provide future resilience. These measures are having a positive impact and customers should continue to see an improving picture in terms of waiting times for paper applications. The DVLA also prioritised vocational licence applications to support the Government’s response to the driver shortage, and there have been no delays in straightforward applications for vocational licences, including renewals, since November 2021. The applications are being processed within normal turnaround times of five working days. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example if medical investigations are needed but the large majority of applicants will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.

Members: Correspondence

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to reply to the enquiry from the hon. Member for Harrow West dated 15 March 2022 regarding his constituent's correspondence of 24 November 2021 and the reinstatement of a driving licence by the DVLA.

Trudy Harrison: A reply to the correspondence referred to was sent by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency on 25 March.

Transport for London: Finance

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2022 to Question 143851 on Transport for London: Finance, if he will make representations to the Mayor of London on the need to protect and preserve TfL services to towns outside of Greater London during his April 2022 review of demand and service levels.

Trudy Harrison: Transport in London is devolved, and therefore it is for the Mayor to make decisions on service levels that support the goal of being financially sustainable by April 2023, while continuing to provide reliable services for passengers both within and outside of Greater London. Since the start of the pandemic, the Government has provided TfL with close to £5bn in support.

Railways: North West

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) Network Rail and (b) train companies operating in (i) St Helens North constituency, (ii) Liverpool City Region and (iii) the North West on improving accessibility at railway stations.

Wendy Morton: The Department has regular discussions with Network Rail and train operating companies about accessibility across the whole network.

Railway Stations: Access

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent funding his Department has provided to Network Rail to support increases in the number of step-free accessible railway stations.

Wendy Morton: During the current rail funding control period (2019-24) a total of £383m is available for the Access for All programme, including £16.3m funding in the Liverpool City Region. This is in addition to accessibility improvements the industry must fund whenever it installs, replaces or renews station infrastructure.

DP World and P&O Ferries: Advisory Bodies

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which government advisory groups P&O Ferries and DP World holds places on.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the (a) minutes and (b) other relevant correspondence in relation to his meeting with DP World on 22 November 2021.

Robert Courts: As part of our response to the Transport Select Committee hearing on P&O ferries, the Secretary of State has sent a note of the meeting with DP World in November. We will publish a list of Government advisory groups that P&O Ferries and DP World sat on as soon as possible.

Railways: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received from the Welsh Government in relation to future investment in the rail network in West Wales.

Wendy Morton: Investment in the rail network in Wales is coordinated through a number of Metro Development Strategy Boards, which meet regularly. The Department for Transport is represented on the Swansea Bay and West Wales Board alongside Welsh Government and other key stakeholders including Network Rail.

Railway Stations: Swansea

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce further progress on the proposed West Wales Parkway rail station.

Wendy Morton: We are working with Transport for Wales, Welsh Government and local authorities to develop plans for better connectivity within South West Wales, including new station provision.

Motorway Service Areas: Electric Vehicles

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the installation of rapid charge points in all motorway service stations in England by the end of 2023 will be funded solely from the Rapid Charging Fund or whether other funds will be used; when he plans to publish a detailed plan for that rollout; and what steps he plans to take to help ensure that (a) cost and (b) time to connect new charge points to the electricity system do not serve as barriers to meeting that target.

Trudy Harrison: The £950 million Rapid Charging Fund aims to future-proof electrical grid capacity at service areas on motorways and major A-roads, to ensure that there is a rapid-charging network ready to meet the long-term consumer demand for electric vehicle chargepoints ahead of need. The primary route to deliver the 2023 targets will be through industry-led and funded activities, including upgrading electricity network capacity when necessary.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Iron and Steel: Carbon Emissions

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when steel manufacturers will receive their share of money owed from the £200m European Research Fund from HM Treasury to support decarbonisation and safeguarding of the sector.

Lee Rowley: The Government recognises the importance of research and development in helping to transform the steel sector as part of the cleaner, greener economy being developed in the UK. The sector already has access to a number of different R&D and transformation funds, each of which give both the sector and individual companies the opportunity to reduce emissions for the long-term. This includes:Access to up to £66 million as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge fund to help develop innovative technology to reduce energy and resource use;Long-term work at the Materials Processing Institute (MPI) to help UK steel and metals sector improve efficiencies, reduce emissions, and boost competitiveness;Access to the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund which allows individual companies to bid for grants to support new technology to reduce emissions;Support for research and innovation through the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio;Initiatives led by the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre. We will continue to work with the sector to support their long-term transition.

Housing: Insulation

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing legislative proposals to mandate companies selling spray foam loft insulation to inform customers of the potentially detrimental impact this product could have on the customer's property value.

Paul Scully: The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) apply across all business sectors and prohibit traders from engaging in unfair commercial practices in connection with the promotion, sale and supply of products to consumers. This includes misleading actions or omissions, such as leaving out or hiding important information or presenting information in such a way that it is likely to deceive the consumer. Under the CPRs, traders are required to provide consumers with the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions. The regulations prohibit commercial practices which omit or hide material information which the average consumer needs, according to the context, to make an informed choice, where such an omission causes or is likely to cause them to make a different choice (e.g. purchase goods or a service that would not otherwise have been purchased).

Better Regulation Executive

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how the Better Regulation Executive oversees the regulatory framework for approving nutritional borderline substances.

Paul Scully: The Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances (ACBS) approves and recommends borderline substances supplied by the NHS. The Committee's recommendations are listed in the Borderline Substance list in the Drug Tariff (Part XV). The regulatory framework for approving nutritional borderline substances is out of scope of the Better Regulation Framework which oversee regulatory measures that relate to the regulation of business activity.

Carbon Emissions and Hydrogen: Finance

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessments his Department has made of the effectiveness of the (a) Industrial Decarbonisation and Hydrogen Revenue Support Scheme, (b) Carbon Capture and Storage Infrastructure Fund and (c) Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.

Greg Hands: The Government is committed to supporting Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) and low carbon hydrogen production, both vital for meeting net zero by 2050, whilst maximising economic benefits and supporting jobs and skills. The CCUS Infrastructure Fund (CIF) and Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF) will provide £1bn and £240m respectively to support the capital costs for CCUS and low carbon hydrogen production, alongside the revenue support provided by the Industrial Decarbonisation and Hydrogen Revenue Support Scheme (IDHRS). The government will be delivering coordinated and effective support packages through the ongoing CCUS Cluster Sequencing process and the forthcoming electrolytic hydrogen allocation rounds. Integrated monitoring and evaluation plans are being developed across all three funds to ensure that their impact and effectiveness is assessed.

Energy Company Obligation: Boilers

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average waiting time is between making an application to the Eco Boiler Grant Scheme to installation of a boiler.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the longest recorded time is between an application being made to the Eco Boiler Grant Scheme to final installation.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many requests there have been in total for the Eco Boiler Grant Scheme.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average waiting time is for a boiler grant to be issued under the Eco Boiler Grant Scheme.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the timetable for installing a boiler under the eco Boiler Grant Scheme for the constituent of Sheffield, Heeley, referred to in the email of 24 March 2022 from the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley with the case reference LH20073.

Greg Hands: The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is not a grant but an obligation on large energy suppliers, who contract installers to deliver energy efficiency measures. These parties decide where to install, based on property suitability and cost-effectiveness. This approach promotes value-for-money.The Government does not become involved in the private contractual decisions of these parties and so cannot influence which households receive measures. The Government does not manage applications for ECO, so does not collect data on application volume or wait times. Suppliers generally identify eligible households via sub-contracted lead generators. Households can contact any obligated supplier to seek ECO support, however eligibility does not guarantee assistance under the scheme.Separate to ECO, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme will provide capital grants for the installation of low carbon heat technologies in domestic and small non-domestic properties. Installations commissioned after April 1st will be eligible, with voucher applications opening in May. Further detail can be found at: www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-may-be-eligible-for-the-boiler-upgrade-scheme-from-april-2022.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans extend the warm home discount.

Greg Hands: The Government consulted on expanding and reforming the Warm Home Discount Scheme from 2022 until 2026 in the Energy White Paper. Under the plans, the total spending will increase from around £350 million to £475 million per year, and the value of the rebates will increase to £150. As a result of the additional funding, 780,000 more low-income and vulnerable households will receive rebates on their energy bills every winter, with the majority receiving the money automatically and without having to apply.

Fuel Poverty

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to tackle energy poverty.

Greg Hands: The Sustainable Warmth Strategy, published in February 2021, details the Government’s approach to tackling fuel poverty in England. The Government recognises more immediate support is needed for energy bills and is providing financial support through established schemes including the Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payment. Additional support has also been announced including a doubling of the Household Support Fund to £1 billion to be delivered through local authorities, a £200 payment through household energy bills for domestic electricity customers in Great Britain, and a £150 non-repayable reduction in Council Tax bills for all households in Bands A-D in England.

Energy: Disconnections

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is his Department will take steps to ensure that energy and utility companies suspend disconnections of customers unable to afford payment of their bills.

Greg Hands: The energy regulator Ofgem prohibits energy suppliers from disconnecting customers who are of pensionable age during the winter months (October to March). Ofgem takes all reasonable steps during winter to avoid disconnecting premises where the occupants include a person who has a disability or a chronic sickness or is a person of pensionable age. Suppliers must not disconnect customers for unpaid charges unless they have offered a range of repayment options and have exhausted all available means to recover a debt. In addition, suppliers are also required to identify and support pre-payment meter (PPM) customers at risk of self-rationing or self-disconnection through provision of emergency/friendly-hours credit and additional support credit.

Energy: Dialysis Machines

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government plans to take to help ensure that people with kidney failure receiving home dialysis treatment, which uses large volumes of electricity, are able to maintain their energy requirements as energy costs rise; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department plans to take to mitigate the potential effect of rising energy costs on health inequalities for people with kidney failure receiving home dialysis treatment, which uses large volumes of electricity; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: Consumers in vulnerable situations due to health issues are protected by the energy price cap if they are on a supplier’s default or standard variable tariff. They will also receive a £200 discount on their electricity bill this autumn, as part of the Government’s package worth £9.1 billion to help domestic households with rising energy bills. The Government will continue to support eligible vulnerable and low-income households through the Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments.

Renewable Energy

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase the proportion of energy generated by renewable sources; and by what year he estimates that the UK will generate all of its energy from renewable sources.

Greg Hands: The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme is the Government’s flagship scheme for supporting new renewable electricity generation projects in Great Britain. The latest round aims to secure more capacity than the three previous rounds combined by supporting an expanded number of renewable technologies including offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, tidal and floating offshore wind. The next CfD round will be brought forward to March 2023, and future rounds will run annually from now on. These steps will help drive forward the deployment of renewable power. The Government has committed to fully decarbonise the electricity system by 2035, subject to security of supply.

Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Allan Dorans: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure Ofgem domestic feed-in tariff rates accurately reflect energy market pricing for those who generate energy.

Greg Hands: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave my Hon. Friend the Member for Stockton South on 28 February 2022 to Question 125580.

Fuel Oil: Northern Ireland

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help support consumers with the rising price of heating oil in Northern Ireland.

Greg Hands: This matter is devolved to the Northern Ireland Administration.

Fuel Oil: Sales

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to regulate sales of heating oil to help protect consumers.

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to regulate the heating oil market to protect consumers in rural areas.

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department will take to ensure that supplies of heating oil and LPG are covered by the same regulatory controls as electricity and gas supplies are, via OFGEM.

Greg Hands: The Government believes it is essential that consumers of domestic fuels receive a fair deal.  There is an open market for the supply of heating oil in the UK as the Government believes this provides the best long-term guarantee of competitive prices. A price cap is not necessary as consumers can shop around and switch supplier more easily than for gas and electricity.

People's Energy

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to allow Peoples Energy to recommence as approved domestic fuel supplier when it comes out of administration,.

Greg Hands: Decisions on licensing are for the independent regulator, Ofgem.

Wind Power

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much onshore wind generation capacity (a) is operating, (b) is under construction and (c) has planning permission as of 28 March 2022.

Greg Hands: According to latest figures (BEIS Energy Trends 6.1), at the end of September 2021 there was 14.4GW of operational onshore wind capacity in the UK. BEIS’ Renewable Energy Planning Database shows there was 6.1GW of onshore wind capacity with planning permission by the end of Quarter 4 2021, of which 0.9GW is under construction.

Energy Supply

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many suppliers are operating in the domestic energy market supplying (a) electricity and (b) gas as of 28 March 2022.

Greg Hands: Information on the supply market and licenced suppliers can be found at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/retail-market-indicators.

Bulb Energy: Insolvency

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the special measures approved for the administration of Bulb energy were made available to other suppliers in financial difficulties.

Greg Hands: When an energy supplier becomes insolvent, Ofgem has to the power to either appoint a Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) or seek consent from the BEIS Secretary of State to apply for an energy supply company administration order (SAR). This is a judgment for Ofgem, who take into account the specifics of the failed supplier and the circumstances in the supply market at the time.

Energy Company Obligation

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much money from the Energy Company Obligation is spent on the identification of recipients and administration of the scheme each year.

Greg Hands: Estimated administrative costs are reported by obligated energy suppliers and published by the Department. Across all iterations of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) since 2013, suppliers are estimated to have spent a total of £506.3 million, or £56.3 million per year on administrative costs. The costs associated with the identification of ECO eligible recipients are factored into total delivery costs and not reported separately.

Research: Finance

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of how the model of collaborative funding for covid-19 research at pace can be used to fund other research areas.

George Freeman: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 15 February 2022 to Question 119577.

Horizon Europe: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding has been granted for the first wave of successful UK Horizon applicants as of 28 March 2022; and what funding has been committed for those who were successful in the second wave.

George Freeman: The Government has committed to support successful initial UK applicants to Horizon Europe, who are unable to sign grant agreements with the EU due to delays by the EU in formalising our association to the programme. On 15 March we announced an extension of the guarantee to a second wave of eligible, successful applicants to ensure that important individual and collaborative projects can go ahead as planned. This will extend the guarantee to grant agreements expected to be signed by December 2022 and will enable awardees to receive the full value of their funding. Supporting the UK’s research and development sector through this period of uncertainty is our top priority. The agreed funding provisions recognise that this support is demand-driven and determined by the number of successful UK applications. All eligible, successful UK applicants will be supported. As Horizon Europe only recently started, data on successful bids will be reviewed as the programme progresses, and as grants are issued via UKRI.

Dementia: Research

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on increasing spending on dementia research.

George Freeman: The Government will invest at least £375 million in neurodegenerative disease research over the next five years to fund projects into a range of diseases including dementia. The Government is working to finalise outcomes from the Spending Review and to identify ways to boost dementia research. We will be setting out our plans on dementia for England for future years in 2022. This will include our ambitions for dementia research and boosting dementia research funding.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme: Fraud

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2022 to Question 135713 on Business: Coronavirus, how much of the amount lost from the public purse to fraud in the Bounce Back Loan Scheme has been recovered to date.

Paul Scully: The Government continues to work closely with the British Business Bank, lenders and enforcement agencies to tackle fraud and to recover as many fraudulent loans as possible. This is on top of the £2.2 billion worth of fraudulent applications that were reported by lenders as having been prevented by upfront checks. Lenders are responsible for undertaking recovery action in the first instance, whether in cases of suspected fraud or otherwise. Given the stage of the scheme it is not currently possible to identify the level of recoveries which apply directly to fraudulent loans.

Research: Finance

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to support scientific research consortia as a future funding model for domestic research and development.

George Freeman: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave my Hon. Friend the Member for Hendon on 28 March 2022 to Question 142443.

Cancer: Immunotherapy

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken on the supporting research into cancer immune therapies.

George Freeman: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave my Hon. Friend the Member for Hendon on 25 March 2022 to Question 142442.

Research: Government Assistance

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his department has taken to develop the UK R&D Roadmap into the forthcoming R&D Plan.

George Freeman: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave my Hon. Friend the Member for Hendon on 25 March 2022 to Question 142441.

Horizon Europe

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress has been made towards the ratification of the UK’s association with the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.

George Freeman: The UK stands ready to formalise our association to EU programmes at the earliest opportunity. The UK raised the ongoing delays at the EU-UK Specialised Committee on Participation in Union Programmes in December. In this meeting the EU confirmed that they were unwilling to move on UK association due to broader political issues. The minutes from this meeting can be found on GOV.UK. We continue to push the EU to formalise our association to Horizon Europe as soon as possible. We recognise that the EU’s delays to the UK’s association have led to uncertainty for researchers, businesses and innovators based in the UK. In order to provide reassurance, the Government guaranteed funding for the first wave of eligible successful applicants to Horizon Europe. On 15 March, the Government announced an extension of the guarantee to a second wave of eligible, successful applicants to ensure that important international collaborations can continue and to provide reassurance for future collaborations. This guarantee protects researchers whether we associate to Horizon Europe, or not. The Government’s position remains to associate and we will continue to do everything we can, but the UK cannot wait indefinitely. If the UK is unable to associate to Horizon Europe soon, and in time to make full use of the opportunities it offers, we are committed to introducing a comprehensive alternative programme of international science, research and innovation collaborations. These will focus on both immediate stability for the sector, with short-term mitigations including the guarantee of funding for successful Horizon applicants, and a bold and ambitious longer-term offer that delivers many of the benefits of Horizon association, and additional benefits, through wider global participation, and even stronger industry and SME engagement.

Department of Health and Social Care

5G: Health Hazards

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the European Parliament's Panel for the Future of Science and Technology report on the health impact of 5G.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Surgical Mesh Implants

Aaron Bell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which specialist surgical mesh removal centres are (a) offering rectopexy mesh removal and (b) expected to be offering rectopexy mesh removal within the next 12 months.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Screening

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the end of free covid-19 testing on the cost of living (a) in general and (b) for people in vulnerable groups.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hormone Replacement Therapy: Prescriptions

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 29 October 2021, Official Report, column 538, what progress he has made on reducing the costs of repeatable prescriptions for HRT for women experiencing menopausal symptoms.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Menopause: Health Services

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has write to healthcare professionals to remind them of the NICE guidelines for menopause care and the ability to prescribe twelve months supply on one prescription; and what his timetable is for doing that.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Menopause: Health Services

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has for a public health campaign to update women on the menopause support available to them.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress has been made on the implementation of the new annual prepayment certificate for hormone replacement therapy products; for what reason implementation will take a further 12 months; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that the target implementation date of April 2023 is met.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to meet representatives from the pharmaceutical supply companies to discuss availability issues with hormone replacement therapy products; and when those meetings are scheduled to take place.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Quarantine

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of ending self-isolation rules for people with covid-19 on immune-suppressed transplant recipients' (a) mortality and (b) quality of life.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of the vaccine Novovax across the UK.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Databases

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department (a) is still using NHS Foundry to map vaccine uptake and (b) has plans to deploy that software elsewhere in the NHS.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health and Social Care: Randox Laboratories

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to Question 72393 and with reference to the phone call between the then health minister, Lord Bethell, and the former Rt. Hon Member for North Shropshire and Randox on 9 April 2020, whether his Department holds any documents relating to (a) the discussions at that meeting and (b) progress on the action points for the Secretary of State and No.10 listed in the redacted copy of the Ministerial briefing note provided in advance of the discussion; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 2 February 2022 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire regarding dementia care and access to face to face GP appointments, reference ZA58786.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2022 to Question 100419 on Coronavirus: Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, how many independent experienced medical advisers have been appointed to consider VDPS applications ;and if he will publish their (a) names, (b) qualifications and (c) relevant experience.

Maria Caulfield: The NHS Business Service Agency is currently tendering a contract to increase capacity to conduct Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme medical assessments. The number of medical assessors appointed will be managed by the supplier and will be flexible to meet the Scheme’s demands. All medical assessors are registered with the General Medical Council and safeguards will be in place to ensure the advice provided meets the required standards. All assessments are subject to quality audit.

Organs: Donors

Simon Jupp: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made direct international comparisons to other western European countries on the potential merits of investment to improve public awareness of organ donation.

Maria Caulfield: NHS Blood and Transplant is the organisation responsible for raising public awareness of organ donation in England. In 2020, NHS Blood and Transplant reviewed international evidence on organ donation and donors sharing their decision with their families. While evidence was limited, similar themes emerged, particularly concerning ethnic minority communities. Where there is awareness of organ donation, in general the public understand the need to have conversations and share their decision with their families. Conversely, where awareness is low, there is a lack of understanding for the need to share their decision.These themes have been addressed in NHS Blood and Transplant’s ‘Leave Them Certain' campaign, launched in February 2021 and supported by an investment f £3,300,000.

Cancer: Waiting Lists

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what oversight of cancer Patient Tracking Lists is undertaken by (a) the UK Health Security Agency and (b) his Department.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England collects management information on the number of patients on the Patient Tracker Log waiting for cancer treatment and whether they have waited less than 62 days, more than 62 days or more than 104 days. This data is reviewed at weekly and monthly intervals by the Department. NHS England also publish national data on the number of people waiting more than 62 days each month.

Cancer: Waiting Lists

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were told they had been taken off of the cancer Patient Tracking List in each of the last 12 months.

Maria Caulfield: The cancer Patient Tracking List (PTL) is a monitoring tool used by hospitals for management of their waiting lists. Data is not collected on whether patients are notified about their removal from the PTL. However, a patient is removed from the 62-day pathway and PTL monitoring when:- the organisation communicates to the patient that a cancer diagnosis has been excluded;- a first definitive treatment has been completed or permitted enabling treatment;- a patient declines treatment;- a patient chooses to receive treatment privately; and- death occurs before treatment.

NHS: Migrant Workers

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that healthcare workers recruited for the NHS who are not UK nationals can acquire the necessary documents as soon as possible.

Edward Argar: All regulated healthcare professionals are required to register with the relevant professional regulator, such as the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council, in order to practice in the United Kingdom. All regulators have procedures in place to assess the skills, knowledge and experience of healthcare professionals who have qualified overseas to ensure that they meet standards of practice in the UK. The regulators are independent and are responsible for these arrangements.The Department is currently consulting on legislative changes which will provide the General Dental Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council with greater flexibility to put in place alternative routes to registration for international applicants.

General Practitioners: Incentives

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether senior academic GPs will be included in the Local Clinical Excellence Awards.

Edward Argar: Access to the Local Clinical Excellence Award scheme is a contractual entitlement for all consultants employed on the 2003 terms and conditions. Academic general practitioners are not eligible for the scheme as they are employed on different terms and conditions.

Flour: Folic Acid

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to introduce folic acid fortification of grains and staple foods at the recommended level of 1mg/100g, 10 ppm.

Maggie Throup: The level of folic acid to be added to non-wholewheat flour is being consulted on as part of the Bread and Flour Regulations review. A final decision on the required level of fortification will follow consideration of the consultation responses alongside advice from relevant expert committees.

Flour: Folic Acid

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals on fortification of a range of staple foods and grains to help ensure that women of childbearing age are able to benefit regardless of cultural dietary traditions or preferences.

Maggie Throup: The Department’s decision to legislate for the fortification of non-wholewheat flour with folic acid was informed by the evidence and consultation responses. Bread is consumed by over 99% of British households and over a quarter of all groceries in the four biggest supermarkets contain flour, therefore it is an ideal vehicle for fortification.Non-wholewheat flour is an already established vehicle for fortification and has been subject to mandatory fortification with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin during milling for decades. The decision to fortify non-wholewheat flour with folic acid will minimise the burden on industry as it will avoid subjecting other types of flour to the existing mandatory fortification requirements.

Flour: Folic Acid

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the Government's timetable is for proceeding with folic acid fortification of staple foods to prevent neural tube defects.

Maggie Throup: As part of the Bread and Flour Regulations review, we will consult on updated regulations and an impact assessment once the Northern Ireland Assembly Elections have concluded.

Healthy Start Scheme

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the size of the initial sum loaded onto Healthy Start cards is based on the date an application is submitted or the date an application is approved.

Maggie Throup: Each successful applicant has their Healthy Start card loaded from the date of the application being submitted.

Cancer: Asbestos

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to monitor trends in the level of (a) breast cancer caused by shift work and (b) ovarian cancer caused by asbestos.

Maria Caulfield: No assessment has been made of these trends. While NHS Digital collects data on the prevalence of breast and ovarian cancer, it is not possible to determine whether these cancers are caused by shift work and asbestos. Hospital episode statistics do not record patients’ career or workplace and the codes used to identify groups of chemicals or noxious substances as the cause of a specific condition do not separately identify asbestos.

Health Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made towards delivering the NHS Long Term Plan commitment to help prevent up to 150,000 heart attacks, strokes and dementia cases over the next 10 years.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England and NHS Improvement are monitoring progress against the NHS Long Term Plan commitment on preventable deaths from heart attacks, strokes and dementia over the next 10 years. However, due to the impact of the pandemic, data on progress collected through the Primary Care Quality and Outcomes Framework and the national cardiovascular prevent audit is not yet available. NHS England and NHS Improvement’s immediate priorities are supporting systems to restore diagnosis and treatment of these conditions to meet the ambitions as set out in the Long Term Plan.

Energy Drinks: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to increase awareness of the health effects of highly caffeinated drinks on children.

Maggie Throup: Manufacturers must label all drinks, except tea and coffee, containing over 150 milligrams of caffeine per litre as ‘high caffeine content. Not recommended for children or pregnant or breast-feeding women’. The Government recommends that children or other people sensitive to caffeine should only consume caffeine in moderation.

Organs: Transplant Surgery

Simon Jupp: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much NHS England spent on machine perfusion used in organ transplantation in each of the last five years.

Maria Caulfield: NHS Blood and Transplant is the organisation responsible for matching, allocating and retrieving organs for transplant in the United Kingdom. Machine perfusion is a technique used to preserve organs, enabling more organs to be successfully transplanted.In 2019, NHS England and NHS Improvement and NHS Blood and Transplant invested in a three-year innovation fund of £5 million to support the use of machine perfusion for heart donation after circulatory death (DCD). The following table shows funding for machine perfusion for DCD in each year since from 2017/2018 to 2020/2021. Data for 2021/22 is not yet available.Financial yearTotalFunding from NHS England and NHS ImprovementFunding from NHS Blood and Transplant2017/2018£0£0£02018/2019£0£0£02019/2020£782,066£391,033£391,0332020/2021£1,303,176£651,588£651,588 Source: NHS Blood and TransplantNote:Funding for DCD covers payments for staffing and consumables. Transportation costs associated with these retrievals have not been included but are estimated to be £450,000 per annum. The following table shows NHS Blood and Transplant expenditure on machine perfusion for liver DCD in each year from 2017/18. Information for 2021/22 is not yet available.Financial yearTotal2017/2018£02018/2019£162,4372019/2020£225,2862020/2021£239,136 Source: NHS Blood and Transplant.

Coronavirus: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his timetable is for rolling out the spring covid-19 booster vaccination for over-75s in the borough of Stockport.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date the next round of covid-19 vaccine boosters be available for the over 75s; and if the roll-out of this booster round will be organised by (a) age and (b) vulnerability.

Maggie Throup: The COVID-19 spring booster campaign commenced on 21 March 2022 in England and will continue until early summer. Adults aged 75 years old and over, residents in care homes for older adults and individuals aged 12 years old and over who are immunosuppressed are eligible and will be invited by the National Health Service to book an appointment through the National Booking System. Local NHS teams will also offer vaccinations in care homes. Priority will be given to those eligible whose clinical need is greatest and the longest period of time since their previous dose was administered.

Cancer: Health Services

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of patients not being seen within the operational standards of the cancer pathway in (a) Slough and (b) the South East.

Maria Caulfield: This information is not held in the format requested, as data on cancer pathways is collected at trust and clinical commissioning group level.

Defibrillators: Databases

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to establish a publicly available national database of defibrillators.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England and NHS Improvement, the British Heart Foundation, the Resuscitation Council UK and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives have developed The Circuit, a national defibrillator network which will register defibrillators in the United Kingdom. This will assist ambulance services to identify the nearest defibrillator at the time of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Food: Regulation

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits for business costs of temporarily suspending regulations on products high in fat, salt and sugar.

Maggie Throup: The impact assessments for restricting promotions and further advertising restrictions for products high in fat, salt or sugar show a positive net present value for each policy, showing that the health benefits outweigh the costs to business and the Government. Any pause to the regulations would delay the health benefits we expect these policies to deliver.

Blood Cancer

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to improve reporting of blood cancer data to levels equal to that of solid tumours.

Maria Caulfield: The National Disease Registration Service collects, analyses, publishes and shares data on cancer, rare diseases and congenital anomalies. Incidence, survival and prevalence rates and routes to diagnosis include data on haematological cancers. We are working with clinicians and charities to increase the level of detail in this data, to record all registered haematological cancers into a format where statistics can be produced.

First Aid: Training

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to increase the public's CPR and first aid skills.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England and NHS Improvement and St John Ambulance will co-ordinate cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills development to increase the use of automated external defibrillators by individuals in community settings. This will include a national network of community advocates to champion the importance of first aid, training 60,000 people which will help save up to 4,000 lives each year by 2028.

General Practitioners: Halton

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the requirement for the number of full-time equivalent GP's is in the Halton CCG area; and how many are practicing in that area as of 22 March 2022.

Maria Caulfield: There is no recommendation for how many general practitioners (GPs) required in a clinical commissioning group (CCG) area nor for how many patients should be assigned to a GP. The demands each patient place on their GP can be affected by various factors, such as rurality and patient demographics. Under the GP Contract each practice is required to provide primary medical services to meet the reasonable needs of their registered patients. The latest available data as of 31 January 2022 shows 86 full time equivalent doctors in general practice in the Halton CCG area.

Chickenpox: Vaccination

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to reduce the impact of chickenpox on (a) the NHS and (b) schools.

Maria Caulfield: Chickenpox is not a notifiable infection in England. In the United Kingdom, varicella immunisation is only recommended to protect those people who are at most risk of serious illness. Individuals who are in regular or close contact with those at highest risk are immunised, including non-immune healthcare workers and close household contacts of immunocompromised individuals, such as the siblings of a child with leukaemia or a child whose parent is undergoing chemotherapy. Varicella immunisation can also be administered to healthcare workers, laboratory staff and those in contact with immunocompromised patients.

Social Services

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on the development of practice guidance aimed at local authority adult safeguarding teams to bring local practice in line across the England.

Gillian Keegan: In January 2022, the Chief Social Worker for Adults published an independent briefing ‘Revisiting safeguarding practice' to support social workers and other local authority adult safeguarding practitioners to carry out their duties effectively under the Care Act 2014.We are also preparing to introduce a new duty for the Care Quality Commission to assess local authorities’ delivery of adult social care duties under Part 1 of the Care Act as part of the Health and Care Bill, which we anticipate will include adult safeguarding. These assessments will provide a greater understanding of practice and provision at local level and enable good practice to be shared nationally.

Alcoholic Drinks: Labelling

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2022 to Question 131213, on Alcoholic Drinks: Labelling, when the Government plans to begin the Alcohol Labelling consultation.

Gillian Keegan: The consultation will be launched in due course.

Mental Health Services: Berkshire

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to support healthcare providers in Berkshire to meet proposed new mental health access standards.

Gillian Keegan: NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with the Government and stakeholders to develop an implementation plan, which will set out how the proposed new mental health access standards might be achieved, including in Berkshire.

Members: Correspondence

Robert Largan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to Question 121963 tabled on 9 February 2022 by the hon. Member for High Peak on Members: Correspondence, when he plans to respond to the enquiry from the hon. Member for High Peak of 16 November 2021, referenced RL30285.

Edward Argar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 March to Question 121963.

NHS: Equality

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS spent on diversity and inclusion roles in 2020-21; what NHS average annual spending on those roles has been since 2011; and what the budgeted spending for those roles is for 2021-22.

Edward Argar: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Department of Health and Social Care: Information Officers

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) full time equivalent headcount and b) outturn expenditure on communications for his Department was in each of the last three financial years.

Edward Argar: The number of Departmental staff delivering communications functions was 80.4 full time equivalent (FTE) in 2019/20, 112.2 FTE in 2020/21 and 117.4 FTE in 2021/22. Expenditure on communications staffing was £4,336,000 in 2019/20, £4,941,000 in 2020/21 and in 2021/22, forecasted spend is approximately £5,200,000.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times temporary external structures have been deployed outside emergency departments in England in each of the last five years.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department’s policy is on the use of temporary external structures outside emergency departments to alleviate pressures during the handover from ambulances.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential risk to patient safety of the use of temporary external structures outside of emergency departments to alleviate pressures from ambulance handovers.

Edward Argar: Data on the number of occasions temporary external structures have been deployed is not held centrally. The Department does not maintain a policy on the use of temporary external structures outside emergency departments and no formal assessment has been made of the potential risk to patient safety of the use of these structures.NHS England and NHS Improvement advise that the use of such structures is a local decision. Local systems should balance patient safety risks at times of heightened pressure, such as those caused by handover delays and take the necessary steps to mitigate those.

Medical Technologies Directorate: Life Sciences

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2021 to Question 92932, and with reference to page 10 of the Life Sciences Vision, what assessment his Department has made of how the Medical Technologies Directorate can contribute to positioning the NHS as an Innovation Partner.

Edward Argar: The Medical Technologies Directorate is developing its strategy to be published in summer 2022, which will support the Life Sciences Vision. The Directorate has undertaken engagement with industry partners to identify the key priorities for the MedTech Strategy. This will include supporting an innovative and dynamic MedTech market to ensure that new products reach the National Health Service quickly through streamlined pathways. The forthcoming strategy will provide further details on this priority.

Gender Recognition: Health Services

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government will take steps to tackle waiting lists for access to gender identity services.

Maria Caulfield: The National Health Service is establishing pilot gender dysphoria clinics under a new delivery model for this service. Pilot clinics have already opened in London, Cheshire and Merseyside, Manchester and the East of England and a further clinic in Sussex is planned later this year. These clinics are due to begin an evaluation to establish the viability of the new clinical models. This will reduce waiting times for patients and ensure the availability of these services.

Health Services: Ukraine

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Ukrainians arriving in the UK are able to access healthcare services.

Maria Caulfield: The Government has waived the Immigration Health Surcharge for those arriving in the United Kingdom on the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and the Ukrainian Family Visa Scheme to ensure all Ukrainian nationals have free access to healthcare. The Department is working with NHS England and NHS Improvement and other Government Departments to ensure that Ukrainian nationals are signposted to registering with general practitioners.

Mental Health: Prisoners

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of prisoners received mental health screening check on entering prison.

Gillian Keegan: Each prisoner is offered a healthcare screen at reception on arrival before being escorted to the residential unit. The reception screening is designed to ensure that the individual is safe before the offer of a second screen within seven days.Both reception and secondary health screenings contain mental health screening questions to identify immediate risks and whether a referral to the prison integrated mental health service is required. Between April 2021 and February 2022, 87% of people entering prison received a reception screen within 24 hours of arriving.

Autism: Diagnosis

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average length of time is between the first appointment with a GP and obtaining a full diagnosis of female autism; and if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of NHS procedures for diagnosing that condition; and whether he plans to improve those procedures.

Gillian Keegan: The information requested is not held in the format requested. NHS Digital began reporting experimental data on waiting times for autism assessments in November 2019. However, this data is not available by gender and does not report an average waiting time between referral and diagnosis. While no specific assessment of the effectiveness of autism diagnostic procedures for women and girls has been made, the 2019 public call for evidence to inform the autism strategy received evidence about the barriers women and girls experienced in the diagnosis process. NHS England and NHS Improvement are reviewing ways to improve the quality of diagnosis for women and girls to ensure the effectiveness of autism diagnostic pathways. In addition, an early identification of autism pilot is also testing whether identification and diagnosis of girls can be improved.

Pupils: Mental Illness

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of school aged pupils experiencing a mental health issue; and how that figure informed the additional £79 million investment in specialist mental health support pledged in the Opportunity for All White Paper.

Gillian Keegan: The Department estimates that approximately one in six or 17.4% of children aged between six and 16 years old had a probable mental health disorder in 2021 - an increase from one in nine or 11.6% in 2017. The investment in specialist mental health support was informed by the prevalence figure for 2020 of approximately one in six children aged between six and 16 years old having a probable mental health disorder.

Care Homes: Visits

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether visitors to residents in care homes will continue have access to free covid-19 lateral flow tests.

Gillian Keegan: Most visitors to care homes will no longer need to test before entering a care setting. Visitors are asked to take necessary precautions to keep themselves and their loved ones safe, in line with general population guidance. There are a small number of residents who need support with personal care from a visitor with whom they have a close relationship. These visitors may be asked to test before entering, up to twice weekly if visiting more than twice, with free lateral flow device tests available for these visitors.

Dental Services: Finance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional financial support he is making available to tackle pressures in dentistry in areas with high levels of population growth.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England and NHS Improvement commission primary dental care services, within the overall National Health Service budget. Approximately £3 billion is invested in NHS dentistry each year. Local services are commissioned according to need, taking into account data held at regional level on the oral health needs of the population, demographics and current service provision.

Lipoedema: Medical Treatments

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of lipoedema NHS patients in England have been treated for the condition with liposuction, in each of the last five years.

Gillian Keegan: The information requested is not held centrally.

Research: Coronavirus

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to fund research into intra-nasal covid-19 vaccines.

Maggie Throup: The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR and UK Research and Innovation have co-funded rapid research on nasal administration of vaccines. Approximately £580,000 was awarded to Imperial College London for a study on the safety and lower airway immunogenicity of two candidate COVID-19 vaccines administered to the respiratory tract. Additionally, the NIHR is providing infrastructure support to two phase one studies in this area, including the study at Imperial College London. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including intra-nasal COVID-19 vaccines.

Department for Education

Adoption

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available for adoptive parents to ensure they can maintain the cultural, religious and linguistic values of their adopted child's community.

Will Quince: The department’s statutory guidance on adoption makes it clear that all families should help children placed with them to understand and appreciate their background and culture. Where the child and prospective adopter do not share the same background, the prospective adopter will need flexible and creative support. All adoptive families are entitled to an assessment of support. Adoption agencies should set out in the family’s support plan the training and support they will offer to ensure that child can embrace important cultural, religious or linguistic values of their community, to understand their background and origin. Our National Adoption Strategy sets out our key aims to driving improvements in all areas of adoption policy, including support for adoptive families.

Children: Day Care

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help women on maternity leave return to work in the event that they are finding it difficult to meet childcare costs.

Will Quince: The cost of childcare is a key concern for parents, which is why the government has made an investment in childcare over the past decade, with over £3.5 billion spent in each of the past three years on the department’s early education entitlements.The department has also introduced Tax-Free Childcare, which is available for working parents of children aged 0-11 (or up to 16 if their child has a disability). This scheme can save parents up to £2,000 per year (or up to £4,000 for children with disabilities) from their childcare costs.Working parents on a low income, including those returning from maternity leave, may also be eligible for help with up to 85% of their childcare costs through the childcare element of Universal Credit. This is subject to a monthly limit of £646 for one child or £1108 for two or more children aged 0-16.The government’s range of childcare offers includes 15 hours free early education for all three- and four-year-olds, regardless of parental income or working status. This helps children to develop social skills and prepare them for school, regardless of their background.Working parents of three- and four-year-olds may also be eligible for an additional 15 hours of free childcare, known as 30 hours free childcare. To be eligible for 30 hours free childcare, a lone parent must earn from just over £7,400 a year, and a couple, where both parents are working, from just over £14,800 per year, to access 30 hours.Parents can usually continue accessing, and applying for, 30 hours free childcare if they are on paid maternity leave. If parents are on unpaid maternity leave, they can apply for 30 hours free childcare (for their 3- or 4-year-old) 31 days before their expected return to work date.

Children: Social Services

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Children’s Social Care Digital Programme guidance will be published.

Will Quince: Guidance for local authorities on improving case management systems for children's social care services was published by the department on 9 March 2022. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-social-care-improving-case-management-systems.

Social Services: Children

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Children's social work workforce, published on 24 February 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of child social care provision in England.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Children’s social work workforce, published on 24 February 2022, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that vacant social worker positions are filled.

Will Quince: The government works closely with local authorities to recognise and understand their workforce pressures, and to ensure that there are enough high-quality child and family social workers in the system.The number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) child and family social workers employed by local authorities in England is increasing every year. On 30 September 2021, there were 32,500 FTE child and family social workers employed by local authorities in England. This is an increase of 2.0% compared to 2020, and an increase of 14.1% compared to 2017. The average social worker at a local authority in England held 16.3 cases in 2021, the same as in 2020, and down from 17.8 in 2017. 16.7% of social worker posts were vacant, up from 16.1% in 2020. This represents a total of 6,520 vacancies. However, there was considerable variation between regions – the North East had the lowest vacancy rate (8.7%), and London had the highest (23.5%). It is important to note that the 4,995 social worker who left their roles in 2021 includes all social workers who have moved between local authorities but are still working in children’s social care.While we recognise the picture local authorities are seeing on the ground may vary from place to place, we are working closely with local authorities and using central programmes and funding to respond to their needs.We are supporting the recruitment and retention of social workers through our investment in fast-track initial social worker training programmes, and in professional development programmes to improve leadership. We are also seeing some innovative practices from local authorities that are driving down agency rates and stabilising their workforces.Our COVID-19 Recovery Action Plan aims to stabilise and strengthen children’s social care as we transition out of the COVID-19 pandemic, so that we deliver well for children and young people and provide a strong foundation for longer-term reform, informed by the independent review of children’s social care.

Pre-school Education: Finance

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the financial viability of the early years education sector; what estimate his Department has made of the number of early years education settings that (a) were open as at 28 March 2022 and (b) will be open in the next 12 months; and what data his Department holds on the number of those settings that have closed in each month in the last six months.

Will Quince: The key measure of market health monitored by the department is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare through regular surveys and through regular conversations with local authorities. Local authorities are not currently reporting any substantial sufficiency issues and we have not seen a substantial number of parents unable to secure childcare places.According to the findings from the 2021 childcare and early years providers survey, 7 in 10 group-based providers reported having spare places in their full day provision and almost half of childminders (49%) reported having spare capacity on average across the week.The most recent data, published by Ofsted on the number of early years providers as of 31 December 2021 concludes there were 54,310 providers on Ofsted’s early year register, of which 30,655 were childminders and 23,416 were childcare providers on non-domestic premises.Between 31 August 2021 and 31 December 2021, across all provider types on the early years register in England, 1,032 providers joined the early years register and 2,445 providers left the early years register.Leavers mainly consist of those that have left Ofsted during the reporting period, most of which are resignations. However, there are small number of providers that may have just changed provider type or register.The department conducted a pulse survey with providers specifically during the Omicron wave, for the week commencing 14 February and estimated 96% of early years education providers were fully open, with a further 3% partially open.Between 27 November and 20 December 2020, 47% per cent of open group-based providers and 56% of open childminders were reasonably confident that it would be financially sustainable to continue to run their childcare provision for another year or longer. This study was conducted during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and some providers may have completed the survey prior to any announcements about spring term funding.The department will continue to evaluate the sufficiency and quality of childcare provision and engage with sector stakeholders and local authorities to monitor dynamics within local markets, parents' access to the government's entitlements and the childcare they require, and the sustainability of the sector.

Children: Social Services

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of access for families to social care support before children enter the care system.

Will Quince: Families access a range of support before children enter the care system, including universal and early help support, and social care services. This is outlined in the statutory guidance, Working Together To Safeguard Children. The guidance is clear on the expectations placed on individuals who work to support children and families and how they need to work together in partnership with others to meet the child and family’s needs. The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2.In each local area, the safeguarding partners should publish a threshold document, which sets out the local criteria for action to assist children and families. This should include the process for early help and the type and level of early help services to be provided, as well as the criteria and processes in place for families when they are referred to children’s social services.The department takes robust action when an authority does not meet its requirements to provide support and protect all children and young people. Local authorities rated inadequate by Ofsted receive comprehensive support from the department. Those performing well are supported to share best practice.We are clear that nothing is more important than children’s welfare, and those who need help and protection deserve high quality and effective support as soon as a need is identified. We recognise the need to make significant change to the current system to improve the lives and outcomes of those supported by children’s social care. That is why we have launched a bold, broad and independently led review that is looking at the needs, experiences and outcomes of the children and families it supports and what is required to make a real difference to their lives. In doing so, the review will contribute to ambitious and deliverable reforms, taking into account the sustainability of local services and effective use of resources and considering how the social care system responds to the needs of all children who are referred. It will address major challenges, including inconsistencies in nationwide practices and outcomes.The Review published its Case for Change in June 2021, setting out the key issues and inviting feedback from parties with an interest in the Review. The Case For Change: Your Feedback was published in October 2021 and the Review’s full report is due to be published this Spring.

Children: Poverty

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of poverty on the objectives set in the Opportunity for All white paper.

Will Quince: The schools white paper sets out two ambitions for 2030:90% of primary school children will achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, and the percentage of children meeting the expected standard in the worst performing areas will have increased by a third.In secondary schools, the national GCSE average grade in both English language and in mathematics will increase from 4.5 in 2019 to 5 by 2030.The needs and challenges faced by the most disadvantaged pupils have been considered in the development of the ambitions and policies in the white paper. For instance, pupil premium funding is used to drive the attainment of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Pupil premium funding will increase to over £2.6 billion in the 2022/23 financial year. Support and investment are also being provided to 55 Education Investment Areas in cold spots of the country where outcomes for children and young people are weakest. More intensive support is being provided to 24 of these areas to address entrenched underperformance in areas with some of the highest rates of disadvantage in the country.Meeting the white paper ambitions will have even larger benefits to society. Quantifying wider welfare effects is complex, but we do know that basic skills can help insulate against particularly bad outcomes for personal wellbeing, such as unemployment and low job quality. The economic benefits of meeting the ambitions set out in the schools white paper was published on 28 March 2022, and can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1063572/Economic_benefits_of_SWP_ambitions_March_2022.pdf

Family Hubs

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his oral contribution of 28 March 2022 on the introduction of family hubs in half of England's local authorities, what criteria he has or plans to use to determine which local authorities will receive a family hub; and if he will place a copy of the list of those local authorities that will receive a family hub in the Library.

Will Quince: In the 2021 Autumn Budget, the government announced a further £82 million to create a network of family hubs. This is part of a wider £300 million package to transform services for parents, carers, babies, and children in half of council areas across England. The Department for Education and Department for Health and Social Care are working together to determine the best approach for selecting local authorities and distributing the funding. The department will set out more detail in due course. The department will place in the libraries of both Houses a copy of the list of those local authorities eligible to receive funding for family hubs from the Spending Review 2021 package.

Children: Care Homes

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2022 to Question 140453 on Children: Care Homes, if she will publish all incident notifications received by Ofsted for incidents of (a) a missing child, (b) emergency services called and (c) illness for each children’s home provider, not overall national figures, in 2020-21 in England.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2022 to Question 140453 on Children: Care Homes, how many complaints were received by Ofsted for each children’s home provider, not national figures, in England in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.

Will Quince: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

English Language: Education

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated to teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages for (a) adults, (b) children (c) refugees and (d) asylum seekers in each financial year since 1997.

Michelle Donelan: English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is funded within the adult education budget (AEB). We publish provider allocations for the AEB on gov.uk at 19+ funding allocations here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/19-funding-allocations#published-allocations. We do not allocate funding for ESOL separately within that budget.From academic year 2019/20 part of the AEB was devolved to mayoral combined authorities and the Greater London Authority and so is not included in these published figures.The government is also providing funding for those in the Homes for Ukraine Scheme at a rate of £10,500 per person to councils to enable them to provide support to Ukrainian families to rebuild their lives and fully integrate into communities, which is unringfenced and therefore can also be spent on ESOL. The £10,500 for Ukrainian nationals is for the first year. We will review funding for future years in due course.

Educational Institutions: Domestic Visits

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish a list of every (a) school, (b) college and (c) university outside Stratford-upon-Avon constituency which he has visited since 15 September 2021.

Michelle Donelan: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has visited the following schools, colleges and universities outside of his constituency, Stratford-upon-Avon, since 15 September 2021. This list reflects visits undertaken in his capacity as Secretary of State for Education only:17 September 2021 to Barnet and Southgate College20 September 2021 to Harris Academy Westminster23 September 2021 to West Coventry Academy15 October 2021 to Westbury-on-Trym Church of England Academy21 October 2021 to Barnsley College17 November 2021 to Aston University18 November 2021 to St Mary’s Catholic Academy25 November 2021 to Brunel University06 January 2022 to Hammersmith Academy10 March 2022 to Sheffield Park Academy18 March 2022 to Aspire Academy Blackpool18 March 2022 to Highfurlong School24 March 2022 to The Totteridge Academy28 March 2022 to Monega Primary School

Homework

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made on the impact of the home learning environment on children's school outcomes; and what steps he is taking to support children's learning at home.

Mr Robin Walker: The department recognises that teachers and leaders have been working incredibly hard to provide high quality on-site and remote education, with much being achieved during the pandemic.The department has announced nearly £5 billion for a multi-year education recovery plan which includes high quality tutoring, world class training for teachers and early years practitioners, additional funding for schools, and extending time in colleges by 40 hours. We are supporting the most disadvantaged, vulnerable and those with the least time left in education, wherever they live, to make up for education lost during the pandemic and are carefully monitoring the progress being made by children in school.Through the department’s Get Help with Technology programme, we have delivered over 1.9 million laptops and tablets to schools, trusts, local authorities and further education providers for disadvantaged children and young people as part of a £520 million government investment to support access to remote education and online social care services.These laptops and tablets are intended to give schools the flexibility to provide remote education support and can continue to be used in the longer term either in the classroom or from home.The priority should always be for schools to deliver high quality face-to-face education to all pupils and remote education should only ever be considered as a short-term measure and as a last resort where in person attendance is not possible.When in-person attendance in school is either not possible or contrary to government guidance schools should continue to provide remote education to allow children and young people who are well enough to keep pace with their education.The department will publish updated guidance to support schools with remote education and will continue to work with the sector on this, learning from the many examples of excellent practice developed during the COVID-19 pandemic.An appropriate home education environment is also essential for parents who opt to provide their children with elective home education. The government is committed to a form of local authority registration for children not in school as well as a duty on local authorities to provide support to home educators when it is required. Further details on this are in the Children Not In School consultation response which was published on 3 February 2022. We hope to legislate on this measure at the next suitable opportunity.

Primary Education: Admissions

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of deferring school entry on children who were born in August.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish guidance to local authorities on determining which year group a child should start secondary school when their entry to primary school had been previously deferred.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to introduce legislative proposals to clarify the guidance to local authorities on when parents apply to defer their child’s entry to school.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department takes to ensure that local authorities have a consistent and common approach to dealing with applications from parents to defer their child’s entry to school.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the guidance to local authorities on how to process applications from parents to defer their child’s entry to school.

Mr Robin Walker: Most children start school in the September following their 4th birthday. The department has not made an assessment of the effect of deferring school entry on children who were born in August. In September 2020 the department published guidance for local authorities and advice for parents on delaying entry to school for summer born children. This includes guidance on transition to secondary school for children who delayed their start at school. The guidance helps admission authorities to understand the framework within which they must operate when responding to parental requests for summer born children to be admitted out of their normal age group. Admission authorities must make decisions based on the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. Survey data shows that almost 9 in 10 requests were approved in 2020. Any change allowing the parents of summer born children the automatic right to delay their child’s entry to reception, and for the child to remain with that cohort throughout their education, would require primary legislation.

Free School Meals

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate the Government has made of the proportion of children living in families with (a) very low food security and (b) low food security, according the definitions of the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs, who are not eligible to receive means-tested free school meals.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the estimate by the Child Poverty Action Group, North East Child Poverty Commission and Children North East that one in four children living in poverty in the North East do not qualify for means-tested free school meals under the current eligibility criteria; and if he will make a statement.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions officials in his Department have had with their counterparts in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on raising the eligibility threshold for free school meals in the forthcoming Food Strategy White Paper; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: The department continues to work closely with other departments across government in considering eligibility for free school meals (FSM). This has included working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to consider all the evidence and recommendations of the National Food Strategy. The Government Food Strategy White Paper will be published in due course.As set out previously, eligibility for FSM has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century, including the introduction of universal infant FSM, and further education free meals.The department is also permanently extending FSM eligibility to children from all groups with no recourse to public funds. This will come into effect for the start of the summer term.

Ministry of Justice

Legal Aid Scheme: Solictors

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many firms of solicitors hold a (a) civil and (b) criminal legal aid contract as of 28 March 2022.

James Cartlidge: There are currently 1,058 firms who hold a Criminal Legal Aid Contract and 1,363 firms who hold a Civil Legal Aid Contract. Please note that firms may have one or more office and may hold a contract to provide civil legal aid, criminal legal aid or both services. This data is correct as at 7 March 2022. The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to secure additional provision where necessary.

Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been spent on legal aid for domestic abuse victims in each of the last 10 years; how many domestic abuse victims have been denied access to legal aid in each year since means testing was introduced; and what estimate he has made of savings to the public purse in each year since means testing was introduced.

James Cartlidge: The requested information is not held centrally. It is not a requirement for an individual to disclose if they have been a victim of domestic abuse when applying for legal aid unless they are applying for legal aid in connection with a protective order or private family law cases under the domestic violence gateway. Consequently, it is not possible to specify how much legal aid has been spent across the whole of the legal aid scheme on domestic abuse victims in each of the last ten years. Expenditure on legal aid for domestic abuse victims to obtain a protective order, such as a non-molestation order, an occupation order or a forced marriage protection order is published within the Legal Aid Agency’s official statistics (table 6.5) https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-july-to-september-2021. This expenditure only captures the cost of civil representation i.e. where court proceedings are issued and covers the period from 1 April 2008 to 30 September 2021.The official statistics (tables 6.8-6.10) also provide data regarding volumes of applications for legal aid received in connection with private family proceedings under the domestic violence gateway introduced on 1 April 2013. The domestic violence gateway requires the applicant to provide evidence that they have experienced or at risk of experiencing domestic abuse in order to bring family legal aid services into scope. The official statistics include information about the number of unsuccessful applications submitted under the domestic violence gateway. Unsuccessful applications will include cases where legal aid was refused (whether due to financial eligibility, application of the merits criteria or failure to provide compliant gateway evidence), where the application was withdrawn or discontinued at the applicant’s request or where the application was rejected for administrative reasons.The official statistics (table 6.1) include details of the number of applications that were unsuccessful (for any reason including where the application was withdrawn by the individual) in each category of law, including domestic abuse cases where legal aid was sought specifically in connection with an application for a protective order. However, it is not possible to specify the number of unsuccessful applications submitted by victims of domestic abuse across the whole of the legal aid scheme as this data is not recorded. The majority of civil legal aid services, including proceedings relating to protective orders and private family law cases, have always been subject to means testing both under current and previous legal aid legislation.Under current legal aid legislation, the Director of Legal Aid Casework has a discretion where the application related to proceedings concerning protective orders to waive the financial eligibility limits for both income and capital where she considers it equitable to do so. All applicants seeking protection from domestic abuse may access legal aid irrespective of their financial circumstances, although they may be asked to make a contribution towards the cost of the case from either income or capital. On 15 March the Government launched a consultation on its proposals following a review of the legal aid means test, which include specific proposals to support better victims of domestic abuse applying for legal aid in in connection with a protective order or other civil proceedings. For example, any disputed assets – including property – will not be included in a means assessment. This is much fairer for domestic abuse victims who are contesting a property and who cannot use their equity in that property to fund the legal proceedings.

Victim Support Schemes

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the £450 million in funding for victim support services will be made available; whether it is additional funding for his Department or reallocated budget; and what his priorities are on where that funding will be allocated.

Tom Pursglove: At the 2021 Budget, the Government announced that it was significantly increasing support for victim support services to £185m by 2024/25, which is an uplift of 85% from core funding in 2020/21. On Friday 25 March, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that as part of this increased budget, £147m per year will be committed over a multi-year period, from 1 April 2022 until the end of 2024/25. The move to a long-term funding model will enable charities and service providers to recruit and retain essential specialist staff, building capacity and strengthening their services so they can provide consistent and high-quality support for victims. The money will fund emotional, practical and therapeutic support for victims of crime such as women and girls affected by domestic abuse. This includes helping fund more specialist Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) and Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs).

Reparation by Offenders

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of victims who are informed about the option of restorative justice and how to access it.

Tom Pursglove: It is already the case that, under the Victims’ Code, all victims are entitled to receive information about how to access restorative justice services in their local area from the police. Also, all other service providers under the Code must consider whether victims would benefit from receiving this information at any stage of the criminal justice process. The Government is taking steps to ensure that this is happening. We have consulted on placing the Code in the Victims’ Bill to raise its profile and send a clear signal that the justice system must deliver for victims. We have also consulted on providing clearer and sharper lines of accountability in the Bill through more focus on victims’ issues by inspectorates nationally and Police and Crime Commissioners locally. Furthermore, we are working with criminal justice agencies, Police and Crime Commissioners and Local Criminal Justice Boards to develop a set of metrics to allow consistent monitoring and improve the delivery of entitlements under the Victims' Code.

Probation: Termination of Employment

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many probation officers have left their role by the lowest possible geographical level in each month of the last three years.

Kit Malthouse: The information on number of probation officers who leave HMPPS for each month in 2019, 2020 and 2021 by region is given in the accompanying excel file. Information for probation officers who leave the probation officer role to go to another role internally is not always recorded and so have not been included in the figures.148323_table (xlsx, 19.7KB)

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: ICT

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many days users of Common Platform have not been able to access that system for part or all of the day since its inception.

James Cartlidge: Since the Common Platform went live with functionality for Magistrates and Crown court hearings in September 2020 there have been a total of 11 recorded service incidents which have resulted in all users not being able to access the Common Platform.These incidents were resolved quickly and during this time normal business continuity plans were enacted.

Offenders: Employment

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2022 to Question 144920 on Offenders: Employment, what steps he is taking to increase the number of prisoners finding work following their release from the worst performing prisons.

Kit Malthouse: It is a priority for this government to increase the proportion of prison leavers in employment following release. We will deliver a presumption in favour of offering offenders the chance to work in prison, on Release on Temporary Licence and on release.We will hold Governors to account for the opportunities and outcomes to participate in work related activity they achieve for prisoners. In return, we will deliver a new digital tool to inform governors and commissioners about progress and what interventions are working in their prison.We are also rolling out dedicated Employment Advisors in all resettlement prisons, to improve how we identify candidates and match them to jobs. This will mean that there is a named person in those establishments accountable for improving these outcomes. Alongside this, we are establishing ‘Employment Hubs’ which are the equivalent of a ‘job centre in a prison’. Prisoners can find out about opportunities sourced by New Futures Network and other partners, as well as access support with applications. There are 23 in operation currently and we plan to have a further 13 by the end of June.Last month the government also announced that it would change the law so that prisoners are able to apply for apprenticeship opportunities in vital industries, including hospitality and construction.Overall, we will publish an annual dashboard, showing performance against Key Performance Indicators, and league tables to increase transparency around prison performance.

Community Orders

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish figures on the number of offenders who have breached the terms of their community sentence years in each of the last five years.

James Cartlidge: We have interpreted the reference to ‘community sentence’ in the question to mean community orders. Community orders consist of one or more requirements decided by the court. Where an offender fails to comply with any requirement of a community order, the court has wide powers: it can amend the order to make the requirements more onerous, impose a fine, or revoke the order and resentence the offender. Sentencing in individual cases is entirely a matter for the independent courts, taking into account the circumstances of the case. Data showing the number of offenders who have failed to comply with the requirements of their community order in each of the last five years can be viewed in table 1 below. Table 1: Number of offenders who have had a community order terminated early for failing to comply with requirements, England and Wales, 2016 to 2020 (1) 20162017201820192020 (2)Community order Terminated early for failing to comply with requirements (3)8,4469,75410,28510,7837,860 (1) The figures include all terminations of community orders in each year, including multiple terminations of the same type of supervision (e.g. two periods of community order supervision terminating in the same year would be included in the figures).(2) In this period, the number of court order completions was substantially reduced as a result of the operational restrictions that were put in place on 23 March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.(3) Includes terminated orders where:(a) The sentence expiry date has been reached, but there is a Breach Listed and/or Warrant Outstanding for a failure to comply on the Sentence; or(b) The order is revoked by the Court as a result of Breach proceedings; or(c) The order is revoked by the Court as a result of a failure on another order.

Reoffenders

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving custodial prison sentences as of 28 March 2022 have (a) not previously served and (b) previously served (i) between one and four, (ii) between five and nine and (iii) more than 10 community sentences.

James Cartlidge: This data requires linking Police National Computer data with prisons data and would therefore be of disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Justice: EY

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what purpose his Department awarded a £3.5 million contract to Ernst & Young, published on 11 Nov 2021.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Justice awarded this contract to Ernst & Young for the provision of Consultancy and Professional Services to support the programme to deliver 3,000 new prison places through houseblock and Cat D construction. The contract award followed a competitive tendering exercise in accordance with MoJ’s Commercial Policy that best value for money is secured via competition. Ernst & Young provided advice and assistance with programme initiation and are providing ongoing support including in specialist areas as required to deliver the programme outcomes on time.

Department for International Trade

DP World

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether DP World London Gateway are still members of the Government's Trade Advisory committee.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department has recently reviewed DP World London Gateways' membership on the Trade Advisory committee.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department has received any correspondence from the (a) Department of Transport and (b) Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the potential merits of removing DP World London Gateway from the Government's Trade Advisory committee.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many meetings of the Trade Advisory committee have DP World London Gateway attended.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many meetings have (a) Ministers and (b) officials from her Department attended with DP World London Gateway over the last 18 months; and if she will publish the (a) dates and (b) topics of discussion of those meetings.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Ernst Schulze, Chief Executive of DP World UK, is no longer a member of the Transport Services Trade Advisory Group (TAG). Officials meet DP World regularly, to discuss trade policy and their investments in the United Kingdom. Departmental records show that there were four such meetings in Q4 of 2020, 19 in 2021, and two to date this year. Usually alongside other businesses, Ministers had two meetings with DP World in Q4 2020, four in 2021, and one to date this year.

Sanctions: Russia

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment her department has made of the potential merits of sanctioning the importation of (a) precious and semi precious stones, gold and silver and (b) products using these materials from (i) Russia and (ii) third party countries where those raw materials were imported from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: In coordination with our allies, we are introducing the largest and most severe economic sanctions that Russia has ever faced. We do not speculate on future sanctions.

Department for International Trade: Staff

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many staff her Department there have been in (a) in total, (b) based in London, (c) based in regions outside London and (d) based overseas in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: The Department for International Trade employs several staff within the United Kingdom and overseas. Headcount figures for locations and staff numbers are detailed in a table below:DateTotal staffTotal staff based in LondonTotal staff based in U.K. regionsTotal staff based overseasMarch 2022*4,9743,1511991,624April 2021*4,8133,1141191,585April 20204,4422,7911971,461April 20193,6612,1131961,352April 2018**3,7791,9411151,399*These figures do not include the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), a Reading-based former directorate of DIT who formally became an Arm’s Length Body of DIT in June 2021.**These figures include U.K. Export Finance (UKEF). Figures after this period exclude UKEF.

Agriculture: Vacancies

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps the Government is taking to tackle labour shortages in farming; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential effect of those shortages on trade deals.

Penny Mordaunt: The Government has announced that the seasonal worker visa route will be extended to 2024 to allow overseas workers to come to the UK for up to six months to harvest both edible and ornamental crops. 30,000 visas will be available. This will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 if necessary. The Government is also working with industry to raise awareness of career opportunities within the food and farming sectors to attract more UK workers. The Government does not expect any impacts of temporary labour shortages on our future trade agenda.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Palestinians: Human Rights

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the systematic discrimination faced by Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories as reported by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the UN Special Rapporteur; whether she accepts the conclusion of their reports; and whether her Department plans to carry out its own legal analysis of that matter.

Amanda Milling: The FCDO is aware of the reports listed above. As a friend of Israel, we have a regular dialogue on human rights. This includes encouraging the Government of Israel to abide by its obligations under international law.

Palestinians: Human Rights

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support she plans to provide to the International Criminal Court in its investigation in respect of the situation in Palestine in the context of the findings of report of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Amanda Milling: The UK is a strong supporter of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and we respect the independence of the Court. In this instance, we do not consider that the ICC has jurisdiction as the UK does not currently recognise Palestinian statehood.

El Salvador: Technical Assistance

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK is providing (a) technical and (b) other assistance to the El Salvador Government following the declaration of a state of emergency in that country.

Vicky Ford: HMG has not received any request for assistance from the Government of El Salvador since the declaration of a state of emergency on 27 March. The UK has a good relationship with El Salvador. Priority areas for UK programming and assistance in El Salvador include: climate change and biodiversity; tackling and recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic; governance and transparency; media freedom; sexual and reproductive health and rights; and human rights, with an emphasis on women's rights and empowerment and prisoners' rights and reintegration. Our Embassy in San Salvador will continue to monitor and report on the current state of emergency and respond appropriately to any request for technical or other assistance.

Morocco: British International Investment

Paul Bristow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps is British International Investment taking to support finance development projects promoting women's empowerment in the Kingdom of Morocco.

James Cleverly: British International Investment (BII) is a leader in gender-lens investing, a strategy that incorporates gender-based factors into the investment process to advance gender equality and better inform investment decisions.Over the past four years BII has worked with other development finance institutions to mobilise over $11.4 billion to enhance women's opportunities including women's employment, as well as women-led and owned businesses. Supporting women's economic empowerment is a key part of BII's next five year investment strategy (2022-2026). BII will look to make investments that support this criteria in all the countries it invests in, including Morocco.In Morocco, BII is actively supporting its largest investment, BMCE Bank of Africa, through a dedicated Gender Action Plan. This includes supporting the bank to strengthen gender diversity in the workforce and training in banking strategies that are targeted at women and their empowerment.

Afghanistan: GardaWorld

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the written evidence, AFG0015, submitted by the Sulha Alliance to the Defence Committee’s inquiry into the Withdrawal from Afghanistan, published on 14 October 2021, how many of the 183 Afghan GardaWorld contractors who are principal applicants have as of 28 March 2022 been relocated under the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme to the UK.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the written evidence, AFG0015, submitted by the Sulha Alliance to the Defence Committee’s inquiry into the Withdrawal from Afghanistan, published on 14 October 2021, how many of the 183 Afghan GardaWorld contractors who are principal applicants and are currently in Afghanistan have as of 28 March 2022 been contacted by her Department with information about arrangements for their relocation under the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme.

James Cleverly: On 6 January the Government announced the opening of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). Under the third pathway, and in the first year, the Government will consider for resettlement British Council and Gardaworld contractors and Chevening alumni who are at risk. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will be in touch with those eligible to support them through next steps.

Arturo McFields

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she is taking steps to support the Nicaraguan Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Arturo McFields, in response to his address to the OAS and comments on the leadership of his country.

Vicky Ford: The UK Government has publicly commended the courage of Arturo McFields, Nicaragua's former Ambassador to the Organization of American States, for bravely denouncing the Ortega-Murillo regime's dictatorship. The UK has been vocal in condemning the Nicaraguan Government's crackdown on fundamental rights and freedoms since the events of 2018 and last year's undemocratic elections. We have raised our concerns on the deteriorating political and human rights situation with Nicaraguan government representatives in London, in Managua, at multilateral fora and publicly through a series of statements. The UK continues to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Nicaragua, including opposition leaders and for the full restoration of all their civil and political rights. The UK will continue to work closely with our partners to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Nicaragua.

Afghanistan: Education

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help (a) prevent the financial collapse of the education system in Afghanistan and (b) ensure that every Afghan child can go to school.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps she is taking to urge the Afghanistan Government to allow all Afghan girls to access their basic right to education without further delay.

James Cleverly: Over the last 20 years the UK has played a key role in ensuring the right of Afghans to an education. There were 8.2 million more children in school in Afghanistan in 2020 compared to 2001 and 38% were girls. This is why the UK deplores the Taliban's decision preventing girls from returning to secondary school. We continue to work with international partners to support Afghan girls in their right to education. We continue to coordinate the education sector response, and provide support to emergency education through the UN humanitarian response plan, and our multilateral investments which deliver community-based education for girls through Education Cannot Wait and the Global Partnership for Education.With our international partners, we continue to press the Taliban to reverse this decision. The Government has made clear its condemnation of the decision, including through statements from the G7+, female foreign ministers and the UN Security Council. Afghan women, at home and in the UK diaspora, demand that girls' right to education be upheld and we stand with them. As the Prime Minister has said several times, we are working to hold the Taliban to account to ensure that they live up to the promises they have made.

Pakistan: Blasphemy

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions officials in her Department have had with their counterparts in Pakistan on the so-called blasphemy laws and reported vigilante acts committed on British soil.

James Cleverly: We raise this issue privately at the highest levels. We press for speedy and fair trials for those accused and urge the Pakistan authorities to ensure the safety of those released. On 23 and 24 June during a visit to Pakistan, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia met Prime Minister Imran Khan, as well as other senior government ministers including Foreign Minister Qureshi and Human Rights Minister Mazari. During these meetings, he highlighted the need to address persecution, promote respect for all religions and increase tolerance for religious minorities. In March the High Commissioner also met senior representatives of the Christian faith and discussed blasphemy, as well as other issues around freedom of religion or belief. We will continue to urge the government of Pakistan to guarantee the fundamental rights of all its citizens, regardless of their religion or belief.

Colombia and Russia: Politics and Government

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of reports that a network of Russian nationals allegedly sent money to Colombian nationals to fund civil unrest and influence the upcoming Colombian presidential election on 29 May 2022.

James Cleverly: We are monitoring reports. The threat of illicit financial flows linked to Russia and dirty money is a trans-national one and it is important to combat this threat from source to destination. We remain clear that credible and inclusive elections are essential components of a functioning democracy.

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Chancellor of the Exchequer of 23 March 2022, Official Report, column 367, what assessment she has made of the impact of humanitarian aid spending in Ukraine on her Department’s existing ODA spending plans.

James Cleverly: The response to Ukraine is a priority for the FCDO and the international community. The UK has committed £394 million in aid to the current crisis in Ukraine the breakdown of which is in the Foreign Secretary's letter to the IDC [https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/9404/documents/161135/default]. This will come from the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget this year and over the next three financial years. This year's contribution will all be met from contingency and emerging departmental underspends. The Department is currently finalising allocations for the next 3 financial years based on the Spending Review outcome and these will be published in due course.

Russia: Banks

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what Russian banks (a) have and (b) have not yet been sanctioned by the UK.

James Cleverly: In close coordination with our allies, we are introducing the largest and most severe economic sanctions that Russia has ever faced, including asset freezes on 16 major banks, a prohibition on clearing for Sberbank, and the removal of selected banks from SWIFT. The banks currently sanctioned represent the majority of the Russian banking sector. The UK Sanctions List, published by the FCDO on GOV.UK, is the comprehensive list of persons or ships designated. Additionally, there are entities listed in Schedule 2 of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which are covered by sectoral financial measures.

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the Government will work with allied countries to enforce a green corridor in Ukraine to ensure food and medical supplies reach those areas in central Ukraine that may be at risk of isolation as a result of their geographical distance from neighbouring borders.

James Cleverly: Humanitarian access is a critical part of upholding International Humanitarian Law. Parties to conflict must allow humanitarian supplies in, and facilitate movement of civilians out of cities where fighting is taking place. The UK continues to support the UN and the Red Cross in negotiating access, and to call on Russia to uphold its obligation to facilitate full humanitarian access and respect international law.

Ukraine: Food Supply

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans she has to mitigate the long-term impact of potential food shortages as a result of the Ukraine crisis.

James Cleverly: The crisis in Ukraine will affect food supplies, further threaten already high food prices and risks exacerbating high food insecurity in affected vulnerable countries. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will continue to encourage open trade to facilitate movement of food and prioritise humanitarian assistance. The UK is monitoring developments closely and is encouraging the relevant multilateral institutions to prioritise rapid information, analysis, and response options. We have also encouraged the G7 to consider a policy and programming response that mitigates the risk of a global food price crisis and protects food security.

Humanitarian Aid

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that the humanitarian crises in and around Ukraine receives adequate (a) support and (b) funding, whilst ensuring that other humanitarian crises including those in Afghanistan and Yemen, do not lose the support and funding they require.

James Cleverly: The UK is one of the leading humanitarian donors to Ukraine, pledging almost £400 million in aid, including £220 million of humanitarian assistance. These funds will be used to save lives, protect vulnerable people inside the country and in the wider region. In addition to funding, the UK has deployed a field team of 13 humanitarian experts to Poland, Moldova and Romania to provide logistics advice and analyse the evolving refugee situation.The UK remains committed to the pledges it has made in response to other humanitarian crises, including Yemen and Afghanistan. In Yemen, the total amount of UK funding since the conflict began is approximately £970 million. In Afghanistan, the UK will have disbursed approximately £286 million in aid, by the end of this financial year.

India: Foreign Relations

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Government of India; and what steps she is taking to further the relationship between the UK and India.

Vicky Ford: The Foreign Secretary is due to visit Delhi on 31 March, where she will meet the Minister of External Affairs and participate in the inaugural edition of the India-UK Strategic Futures Forum. She will discuss bilateral and international issues, building on our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the 2030 Roadmap for India-UK future relations.The Foreign Secretary previously visited Delhi and Mumbai on 22-23 October 2021. During this visit, the Foreign Secretary held bilateral consultations with the Minister of External Affairs and the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. She also visited HMS Queen Elizabeth, part of the UK Carrier Strike Group, in Mumbai. Discussions focussed on technology and infrastructure cooperation with India, alongside forging stronger UK-India security and defence links.The Foreign Secretary engages regularly with her counterpart, India's Minister for External Affairs. This reinforces ongoing Ministerial and official level cooperation between our two governments including on people-to-people links, trade, defence, climate and health.

Climate Change: Finance

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate she has made of the proportion of UK climate finance that will support climate adaptation projects in the next five years.

Vicky Ford: Between 2016/17 and 2020/21, the UK spent £2.7 billion on international climate finance (ICF) programmes that supported climate adaptation. This was 45% of total UK ICF spend over the period. We are doubling our ICF to £11.6 billion between 2021/22 and 2025/26 and will aim to maintain a balance between adaptation and mitigation.

Sri Lanka: Foreign Relations

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions has she had with the Government on Sri Lanka; and whether she has raised the treatment of the Tamil people in those discussions.

Vicky Ford: The UK Government regularly engages with the Government of Sri Lanka on a range of issues, including human rights concerns such as the targeting and marginalisation of minority groups. The Foreign Secretary raised the importance of upholding human rights when she met Foreign Minister Peiris on 26 October 2021. During his visit to Sri Lanka on 18-20 January when he travelled to the North and East as well as Colombo, the Minister for South Asia, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon met a range of civil society groups, including Tamil representatives, to discuss human rights.

Russia: Sanctions

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment has she made of the impact of UK sanctions on Russia on UK nationals living in the UK who receive pensions via Russian bank accounts.

James Cleverly: The Government seeks to ensure sanctions measures are carefully targeted and avoid unintended consequences. Measures have been designed for the maximum impact on the Russian economy whilst protecting the financial stability and interests of the UK and its allies.

Iran: Nuclear Weapons

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help prevent Iran from developing long-range nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.

James Cleverly: Iran's ballistic missile programme is destabilising for the region and poses a threat to European security. UN Security Council Resolution 2231 (UNSCR 2231), which was unanimously adopted in the Security Council and underpins the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), calls on Iran not to undertake activities related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, including launches using such ballistic missile technology. Alongside France and Germany, we have written regularly to the UN Secretary-General, most recently on 31 January, to draw attention to Iranian missile activity inconsistent with UNSCR 2231. We urge Iran to fully abide by UNSCR 2231 and all other relevant resolutions.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) type and (b) make of covid-19 vaccines the UK is donating to (a) COVAX and (b) bilateral arrangements with low and middle-income countries as of 28 March 2022.

Amanda Milling: As a force for good in the world, through our participation in COVAX and by sharing vaccines, the UK is championing the need for access for all countries. As of 28 March the UK has delivered Adenovirus (AstraZeneca and Janssen/Johnson and Johnson) vaccines to low and middle-income countries through COVAX, who will also soon be delivering UK Protein Adjuvant (Novavax) vaccines to developing countries in line with their fair allocation model. We also have made bilateral donations, and are working on bilateral deliveries of AstraZeneca and mRNA (Moderna and Pfizer) vaccines in the coming months.The UK was one of the earliest and largest donors to COVAX, contributing £548 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC). Our early funding gave the COVAX AMC the purchase power to secure deals with manufacturers to supply internationally approved vaccines for up to 92 low and middle-income countries. So far, COVAX has helped deliver over 1.16 billion doses to 144 participants.

Mozambique: Gas Fired Power Stations

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the compliance of CDC Group’s commitment to finance the Temane gas project in Mozambique with Government commitments to end overseas fossil fuel finance.

Amanda Milling: In July 2020, CDC launched its new Climate Strategy. Subsequently, in December 2020, CDC launched its Fossil Fuel Policy and Gas Guidance Tool, which is fully aligned with the UK Government's fossil fuel policy. The policy excludes investment in the vast majority of fossil fuel types with very limited exclusions.Temane meets the conditions for Paris-aligned gas power as per HMG's fossil fuel policy and has been assessed in detail as per CDC's gas guidance which is consistent with those conditions. When operational, the Temane project is expected to meet the electricity needs of 1.5 million Mozambicans and support the creation of 14,000 jobs. It will support the energy transition and decarbonisation in Mozambique by allowing greater installations of renewables, as well as itself being technologically ready from inception to run on green hydrogen in future as and when that fuel source becomes available.In Mozambique, in addition to Temane, Globeleq is developing solar (and battery storage) and wind projects, such as the ground-breaking Cuamba solar (plus battery) storage project which reached financial close in December 2021.

Mozambique: Gas Fired Power Stations

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the value is of CDC Group’s commitment to provide equity financing for the Temane gas project in Mozambique, developed by its subsidiary Globeleq.

Amanda Milling: CDC is a majority shareholder of Globeleq. Globeleq's commitments are funded by shareholder support and Globeleq's own resources.In the past two years, Globeleq has supported the financing of a number of African power projects, including the Cuamba solar and storage project in Mozambique, the Temane gas fired power project in Mozambique and the ARC solar project in Egypt.Gloebleq has reported its total commitment to Temane as approximately $170 million.

BBC World Service: Finance

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for the BBC World Service.

Amanda Milling: We strongly value the work of the BBC World Service and its independent and impartial broadcasting. The FCDO has provided over £370 million (2016-2021) via the World2020 programme, which funds 12 language services and additional funding to existing language services in English, Arabic and Russian.The World Service now reaches 364 million people weekly, an increase of over 40% since the FCDO-funded World2020 programme began in 2016. In 2021-22, the FCDO has provided a total of £94.4 million to the World Service. The FCDO is committed to providing funding for the BBC World Service through to 2025, with final allocations to be confirmed after the conclusion of the FCDO business planning process.

China and Solomon Islands: Foreign Relations

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the implications of the draft security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands for (a) the stability and security of the Asia Pacific region and (b) British allies and interests in the region.

Amanda Milling: The UK and Solomon Islands have a strong bilateral relationship with shared priorities including security, stability, economic development and tackling climate change. By way of example, at the request of the Solomon Islands' Ministry of Health and Medical Services, the UK sent an Emergency Medical Team (which arrived in Honiara on 11 March) to support the Government of Solomon Islands in dealing with the country's first Covid-19 outbreak. The UK remains committed to increased engagement and strategic focus on the Indo-Pacific, as determined in the 2021 Integrated Review. Bilateral relations between China and Solomon Islands are a matter for those two countries.

Members: Correspondence

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for East Londonderry of 25 February 2022 regarding assistance for a refugee family in Lebanon.

Amanda Milling: The Minister of State for Asia and the Middle East sent a response to the Honourable Member on 24 March 2022.

Sanctions: Freezing of Assets

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will list the assets and properties (a) seized and (b) frozen under sanctions regulations in 2022.

Vicky Ford: The UK Sanctions List, published by the FCDO on GOV.UK, is the comprehensive list of persons or ships designated. Additionally, there are entities listed in Schedule 2 of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which are covered by sectoral financial measures.In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine we have announced an unprecedented package of sanctions to cut off the funding for Putin's war machine. We have now sanctioned over 1000 individuals and businesses since the invasion of Ukraine. Putin himself has acknowledged the "problems and difficulties" caused by sanctions. Our package of sanctions includes asset freezes on major banks, a prohibition on clearing for Sberbank, and the removal of selected banks from SWIFT.UK sanctions are strategically coordinated with allies to impose severe cost on Putin and his regime.

North Korea: Nuclear Weapons

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with international counterparts and other relevant stakeholders following the recent missile test by North Korea.

Amanda Milling: The UK condemns the escalation of ballistic missile testing by the DPRK, including the ICBM launch on 24 March, all in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. As the Foreign Secretary and G7 counterparts made clear on 25 March, we strongly condemn these acts, and call on the DPRK to accept the repeated offers of dialogue put forward by all parties concerned. The UK, US and like-minded countries convened a UN Security Council meeting on Friday 25 March, which was the first open meeting on DPRK since December 2019. We are clear the DPRK must abandon its nuclear and ballistic programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. Until then, implementation of UNSC Resolutions must be upheld in full, including the enforcement of sanctions that were agreed by the UNSC to curtail the DPRK's prohibited programmes. We remain committed to securing peace on the Korean peninsula, working closely with allies and partners in upholding the rules-based international system and securing an end to DPRK's illegal activities.

Milorad Dodik

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the US Administration's decision to impose further sanction on Milorad Dodik.

James Cleverly: The UK welcomed the US decision in January to impose sanctions in response to ongoing threats to Bosnia and Herzegovina's stability. Sanctions are also an important part of the UK toolkit for Bosnia and Herzegovina. In close coordination with our US, European and other international partners, we are reviewing a range of restrictive measures to introduce consequences for destabilising and dangerous behaviour. These include sanctions as well as greater conditionality attached to international assistance. We do not comment or speculate on future sanctions targets, as to do so could reduce their impact.

Ministry of Defence

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2022 to Question 143803 on Ukraine: Armed Forces, what assessment he has made of (a) size and (b) location of the new new territorial defence units reported to have been set up or inspired by the Azov battalion and situated beyond Mariupol.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ukraine: Military Aid

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of potential steps that could be undertaken to support and facilitate (a) the transfer of airframes that are immediately usable by the Ukrainian Airforce from NATO allies and (b) the provision of drones for the Ukrainian military.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Falkland Islands: Armed Forces and Warships

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) British personnel and (b) Royal Navy ships have been stationed in the Falkland Islands in each year since 2010.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Falkland Islands: Armed Forces

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British personnel are currently stationed in the Falkland Islands.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how the UK armed forces are assisting with humanitarian supplies into neighbouring counties around Ukraine to support the humanitarian situation in those countries.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many requests have been received by his Department from bordering countries to Ukraine to help with the humanitarian situation; and how many of the 1000 troops who are on readiness have been deployed to help with humanitarian assistance, by location.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence: Infosys

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contracts his Department has with Infosys; and what their (a) value and (b) duration is.

Jeremy Quin: A search has found no contracts awarded by the Ministry of Defence to Infosys (this would not preclude them being engaged by a Prime as a Sub-Contractor).

Army: Weapons

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2022 to Question 141251 on Army: Weapons, (a) when and (b) for what reasons the L127 A4 fuze was withdrawn from British army service.

Jeremy Quin: All L127 Fuzes were removed from service within the Army as of 31 December 2019. They were removed from service following advice from the Defence Ordnance Safety Group due to the presence of Tetryl within the fuzes.

Department for Work and Pensions

Welfare Assistance Schemes: Jarrow

Kate Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made on the adequacy of local welfare assistance schemes in Jarrow constituency.

David Rutley: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Security Benefits: Cancer

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of including witness statements as part of the disability benefits decision-making process for people living with cancer.

Chloe Smith: In the context of claims for health and disability-related benefits, for all health conditions and disabilities, a claimant can provide to the Department any evidence, including a witness statement, which they consider supports that claim. All evidence, whatever the source or type, is considered and weighed accordingly as part of the decision-making process.

Personal Independence Payment: Cancer

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of reported delays to personal independence payments for people living with cancer.

Chloe Smith: Entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a health condition or disability, rather than the health condition or disability itself. People with the same condition or impairment can have very different daily living or mobility needs. New claims from claimants who are terminally ill are currently being cleared in an average of three days.  We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through PIP in a timely manner.  Reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department and we are working constantly to make improvements to our service, including using a blend of phone, video and fact-to-face assessments to deliver a more efficient and user-centred process.  We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence, including that from the claimant.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who registered an appeal against their benefit decision were awarded benefit at the first stage of appeal in the most recent 12 months for which data is available.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who appealed to a tribunal against a benefit decision in the most recent 12-month period for which data are available were awarded benefit by the tribunal.

Chloe Smith: The information requested is not readily available and to provide would incur disproportionate cost.Some information regarding volumes and proportions of people who appealed to a tribunal and were awarded benefit can be found in the Tribunal Statistics quarterly main tables published by the Ministry of Justice, available at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics#tribunal-statistics-quarterly

Access to Work Programme

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the past full year for which figures are available, how many and what proportion of Access to Work renewals have taken longer than 12 weeks to process.

Chloe Smith: The information requested about volumes and proportion of Access to Work renewals which have taken more than 12 weeks to process is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Disability Living Allowance: Children

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children under the age of three are in receipt of DLA Care under the special rules.

Chloe Smith: Quarterly statistics for the number and age of children in receipt of the highest rate care award of Disability Living Allowance, with a main disabling condition recorded as Terminally ill, are published on Stat-Xplore here:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk Guidance for users is available at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Members: Correspondence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 26 January 2022 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire on the Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone, reference ZA58740.

Jo Churchill: I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member, as this is an area which crosses over with another department. A reply was sent on 30 March 2022.

Agriculture: Climate Change

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Adaptation Committee’s recommendations on page 28 of the Climate Change Committee's report of June 2021 entitled, Progress in adapting to climate change: 2021 Report to Parliament, what plans his Department has to take steps to mitigate the effects on agriculture of a two degrees Celsius warming scenario.

Jo Churchill: Mitigating and adapting to climate change is essential to support the productivity of farming businesses and support global food security. The UK Climate Change Act 2008 requires the Government to prepare, on a five-yearly cycle, a UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA), followed by a National Adaptation Programme (NAP), setting out actions to address the risks identified in the CCRA. The Climate Change Committee's Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk offers a detailed and up to date insight into the growing risks and opportunities the UK and its natural environment faces from climate change, including in relation to agriculture. This evidence has informed our third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3), which we laid in Parliament on 17 January 2022. The evidence will inform greater ambition and action on enhancing resilience to the impacts of climate change through the third NAP (NAP3) and highlight gaps where the Government needs to go further. NAP3 will address the risks and opportunities for a 2ºC warming scenario, to build a more resilient country, with a focus on enhanced ambition, implementation, and evaluation. Our policy development and delivery for agriculture's contribution to net zero can provide a multitude of adaptive benefits. For example, Defra intends to offer greater support for agroforestry through the 2020s, which will help to: sequester carbon; reduce soil erosion and flood risk; improve tolerance to drought; and reduce heat stress and wind exposure in livestock through the provision of shelter and shade. We will continue to consider the importance of climate adaptation as we develop our environmental land management schemes to support a resilient agricultural sector. Defra continues to support research to promote agricultural resilience. For example, the Genetic Improvement Networks research projects aim to enhance the productivity, sustainability and resilience of the main UK crops. Defra has also recently introduced new regulations that will make field trials and research easier for plants produced through precision breeding technologies, such as gene editing, which has the potential to develop crops that are more beneficial to the environment, more resilient to climate change and more productive.

Land Drainage

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to his Answer of 8 March 2022 to Question 134074, on Land Drainage, if he will publish the minutes of the advisory group meeting.

Rebecca Pow: The Government does not have plans to publish the minutes of the advisory group meetings at this time.

Hedges and Ditches

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to set targets for hedgerow expansion in the forthcoming review of the 25 year Environmental Improvement Plan.

Rebecca Pow: Hedgerows are one of the most important ecological building blocks in our farmed landscape. They maintain the distinctive character of our countryside, providing crucial habitats and food for wildlife. Our primary tools to deliver environmentally beneficial hedgerow management and hedgerow creation are the Environmental Stewardship and Countryside Stewardship schemes. Our future farming schemes will also incentivise the planting and sustainable management of hedgerows across England. We are required by the Environment Act 2021 to set a legally binding target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030, alongside other biodiversity targets we are currently consulting on. In order to meet our world leading species abundance target, we will need to create more, better joined up habitats, which will include hedgerows. We are also consulting on a target to create or restore in excess of 500,000 ha of wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites by 2042. We propose that hedgerows should be one of the wildlife-rich habitats included in this target.

Hedges and Ditches: Trees

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in light of the proposed Environment Act targets published by his Department on 16 March 2022 to increase tree canopy and woodland cover from 14.5 per cent to 17.5 per cent of total land area in England by 2050, what assessment he has made of the (a) tree canopy cover provided by existing hedgerow trees and (b) potential area enhanced hedgerow trees could provide in the future by 2050.

Rebecca Pow: Hedgerows are one of the most important ecological building blocks in our farmed landscape. They maintain the distinctive character of our countryside, providing crucial habitats and food for wildlife. The trees that appear in hedgerows and outgrown hedges are defined as 'linear features in the National Forest Inventory', which details all tree cover in Britain. Forest Research's ' Tree Cover Outside Woodland in Great Britain', 2017, reported the last comprehensive inventory and is due to be updated again in 2022/23. This will act as the proposed target's baseline for trees outside woodlands, including hedgerow trees, and both losses and gains from that baseline will be accounted for. Along with the proposed tree target, the Environment Act 2021 requires us to set a world leading target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030, alongside other biodiversity targets we are consulting on. The species abundance target will require creating more, better joined up habitats, which will include hedgerows to help tackle the causes of decline and drive actions to deliver nature recovery. We also propose that hedgerows should be one of the wildlife-rich habitats in our proposed legally binding target to create or restore in excess of 500,000 hectares of a range of wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites by 2042.

Home Office

Visas: Refugees

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase capacity in the context of increased refugee applications; whether she has plans to recruit more staff to handle those applications; what assessment she has made of the potential impact of prioritising Ukrainian refugee applications on outstanding refugee applications from other countries; and what assessment she has made of reports that people applying for visas in African countries have been told they will have to wait longer because of the situation in the Ukraine.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office is currently prioritising applications made under its Ukraine Schemes in response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the invasion of Ukraine.As a result, customers with standard applications in study, work, and family routes may experience some delays in the processing of their application. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. PV and SPV remains available for visitor applications but can only be purchased via the commercial partner website. This applies in all locations, not just African countries.The Home Office monitor performance constantly and try to maximise delivery efficiency. We are also undertaking a review of our service standards for visas and leave to remain routes.

Asylum: Ukraine

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's guidance titled Support for family members of British nationals in Ukraine and Ukrainian nationals in Ukraine and the UK, what estimate she has made of the number of people living in Ukraine with family members who have indefinite leave to remain in the UK, as at 2 March 2022.

Kevin Foster: Potential use of the route is difficult to estimate. A broad estimate of potential sponsors can be made, taking Ukrainian nationals with settlement or holding status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) and Ukrainians granted British citizenship as groups most likely to have familial links with Ukraine. Estimates are based on internal analysis. Data on these groups can be found in published statistics:Table_Se_D01 of https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1055252/settlement-datasets-dec-2021.xlsxTable EUSS_NON_EEA_02 of  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-quarterly-statistics-december-2021Ukrainian nationals at Table Cit_D02 of https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1055257/citizenship-datasets-dec-2021.xlsx.

Visas: Ukraine

Amy Callaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional support staff she plans to deploy at visa application centres in countries bordering Ukraine to support people and families of UK nationals with the visa application process.

Kevin Foster: We are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system, and we actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand, including from pressures relating to Ukraine. The Home Office and the commercial provider operating our Visa Application Centres have surged staff across Europe to meet demand, where we can offer over 13,000 appointments to visa applicants, and UKVI staff in the UK are working seven days a week to process applications.As part of the Home Office’s commitment to make it easier for applicants to apply to our schemes, since 15 March Ukrainians with valid passports no longer need to go to a Visa Application Centre to give their biometrics before they come to the UK.

Immigration: Ukraine

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people with leave to remain in the UK with family members, as defined by the Home Office’s guidance, Support for family members of British nationals in Ukraine, and Ukrainian nationals in Ukraine and the UK, who live in Ukraine.

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people in Ukraine that are eligible for the family migration visa with salary and English language thresholds applied; and what estimate she has made of the number of people who are eligible for that visa following the lifting of the salary and language thresholds.

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her oral contribution of 1 March 2022, Official Report, what method her Department used to estimate that 100,000 Ukrainians are eligible for the family migration visa.

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of eligible family members, as defined by her Department's guidance, Support for family members of British nationals in Ukraine, and Ukrainian nationals in Ukraine and the UK, in Ukraine rather than already in the UK.

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people living in Ukraine that have family members, as defined by her Department's guidance, Support for family members of British nationals in Ukraine, and Ukrainian nationals in Ukraine and the UK, who are British nationals.

Kevin Foster: Potential use of the route is difficult to estimate. A broad estimate of potential sponsors can be made, taking Ukrainian nationals with settlement or holding status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) and Ukrainians granted British citizenship as groups most likely to have familial links with Ukraine. Estimates are based on internal analysis. Data on these groups can be found in published statistics:Table_Se_D01 of https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1055252/settlement-datasets-dec-2021.xlsxTable EUSS_NON_EEA_02 of  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-quarterly-statistics-december-2021Ukrainian nationals at Table Cit_D02 of https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1055257/citizenship-datasets-dec-2021.xlsx.

Refugees: Resettlement

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to introduce a longer-term global resettlement programme for refugees who wish to come to the UK.

Kevin Foster: The UK has a long history of supporting refugees in need of protection. The UK continues to welcome vulnerable people through the existing global UK Resettlement Scheme, Mandate Resettlement Scheme, Community Sponsorship Scheme and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.Since 2015, we have resettled more than 27,000 refugees through safe and legal routes directly from regions of conflict and instability - around half of whom were children.The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) commenced on 6 January and will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.In addition to our resettlement schemes, we also operate the following safe and legal routes:Refugee family reunion, which enables the spouse or partner and children of a refugee sponsor who are under 18 years of age to join their family member in the UK. More than 39,500 family reunion visas have been granted since 2015Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP), for current or former locally employed Afghan staff working for or alongside the UK Government. We have relocated over 8,000 people under ARAP so far, with more continuing to arrive.A bespoke immigration route for British National (Overseas) status holders and their family members in Hong Kong, which reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those who elected to retain their ties with the UK after Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997. The route was launched in response to China’s passing of the National Security Law in Hong Kong which significantly impacts the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong. As of the end of December 2021, there have been 97,057 successful grants since the route launched on 31 January 2021.In response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the Government has introduced two new schemes: the Ukraine Family Scheme announced on 4 March, and for those without family links to the UK, the Homes for Ukraine Scheme announced 14 March.Resettlement is only one strand of our international efforts helping refugees. It is complemented by the UK’s significant humanitarian aid programme and diplomatic efforts. More information on existing resettlement schemes can be found in the published guidance Resettlement: policy guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and Afghan citizens resettlement scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Further information on the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine Scheme can be found in the published guidance Apply for a Ukraine Family Scheme visa - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and Homes for Ukraine – Homes for Ukraine – Local Sponsorship Scheme for Ukraine (campaign.gov.uk)More information on safe and legal routes can be found here: Nationality and Borders Bill: Factsheet Safe and Legal Routes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Visas: Ukraine

Amy Callaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the UK Government is sending additional decision makers to Warsaw, Poland to deal with the backlog of visa applications in the wake of the Ukrainian refugee crisis; and what the current estimated waiting times are for processing applications from VAC in Poland.

Kevin Foster: We are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system. We actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand, including from pressures relating to Ukraine. The Home Office and the commercial provider operating our Visa Application Centres have surged staff across Europe to meet demand, where we can offer over 13,000 appointments to visa applicants, and UKVI staff in the UK are working seven days a week to process applications.The Home Office continues to monitor its overall caseworking capacity for Ukrainian cases, including redeploying staff from other business areas or other Government Departments.

Refugees: Ukraine

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant of her oral statement of 1 March 2022, whether the Government will provide financial support to partner organisations to the Ukraine sponsorship pathway.

Kevin Foster: The Homes for Ukraine scheme was launched on 14 March 2022 by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Information on the scheme can be found at:Homes for Ukraine: guidance for councils - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Asylum: Ukraine

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her announcement that an additional 100,000 Ukrainians will be able to seek sanctuary in the UK, how her Department calculated that figure; and which family members of Ukrainians in the UK qualify as immediate family.

Kevin Foster: The Ukraine Family Scheme opened for applications on 4 March 2022 and allows applicants to join family members or extend their stay in the UK. Eligibility for the Ukraine Family Scheme is explained here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-ukraine-family-scheme-visa#eligibilityPotential use of the route is difficult to estimate. A broad estimate of potential sponsors can be made, taking Ukrainian nationals with settlement or holding status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) and Ukrainians granted British citizenship as groups most likely to have familial links with Ukraine. Estimates are based on internal analysis. Data on these groups can be found in published statistics:Table_Se_D01 of https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1055252/settlement-datasets-dec-2021.xlsxTable EUSS_NON_EEA_02 of  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-quarterly-statistics-december-2021Ukrainian nationals at Table Cit_D02 of https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1055257/citizenship-datasets-dec-2021.xlsx.

Biometrics

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the minimum time it takes to complete a biometric test.

Kevin Foster: The enrolment of biometrics only accounts for part of the total appointment length. Our commercial partners, who provide biometric enrolment services on our behalf, for standard visa applications aim to complete end to end visa application processes within 45 minutes from the time the customer is first seen by an agent to the time they leave. However, appointments can vary in length depending on individual or family circumstances.For customers applying on Ukraine schemes we have simplified application processes to speed up the turn-around processes at visa application centres.Separately, for those customers who have any queries or require support ahead of their visa appointment, in key locations in and around Ukraine the Home Office has deployed staff to offer wider assistance if required.

UK Visas and Immigration: Staff

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the recent allocation of resources to visa application centres, what assessment she has made of when UKVI will have sufficient capacity to tackle the backlog of applications from Ukrainian refugees.

Kevin Foster: We are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system, and we actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand, including from pressures relating to Ukraine. Over 27,000 visas have already been issued under our two schemes to assist Ukrainians fleeing conflict.The Home Office and the commercial provider operating our Visa Application Centres have surged staff across Europe to meet demand, where we can offer over 13,000 appointments to visa applicants, and UKVI staff in the UK are working seven days a week to process applications.As part of the Home Office’s commitment to make it easier for applicants to apply to our schemes, since 15 March Ukrainians with valid passports no longer need to go to a Visa Application Centre to give their biometrics before they come to the UK.

Immigration: Afghanistan

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to provide a Home Office Desk in Portcullis House for hon. Members to take immigration and asylum cases relating to the situation in Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement.

Kevin Foster: The service provided by the Home Office at Portcullis House has received wide praise from Hon. Members who have made enquiries regarding Ukraine.Consideration is currently being given to widening the service to non-Ukraine enquiries including those relating to the situation in Afghanistan.A decision will be made after recess.

Visas: Ukraine

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, what steps she is taking to ensure that refugee families and host families are notified of when the visa will be available so that they can make the necessary arrangements.

Kevin Foster: The United Kingdom has a proud history of supporting those in need.To harness the generosity of the UK, we officially launched the Homes for Ukraine scheme on 14th March 2022 to support Ukrainians facing this humanitarian crisis and applications can now be made.

Border Force Independent Review

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will immediately publish the terms of reference for Alexander Downer's review into Border Force.

Kevin Foster: Following the announcement of the Independent Review of Border Force on 17th February 2022, the terms of reference were published on 11th March 2022 and can be found on gov.uk:Independent review of Border Force: terms of reference - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Visas: Ukraine

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's target timeframe is for processing visa applications under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.

Kevin Foster: The scheme has only been running for a short period so far; details on the number of visas issued will be released in due course.This is a government led scheme, administered by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), to whom further queries can be directed.

Refugees: Ukraine

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the average amount of time it takes an applicant to complete an application under (a) the Ukraine Family Scheme and (b) the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office does not capture the average time taken for an applicant to complete an application under the Ukraine Family Scheme or Homes for Ukraine Scheme.To capture this would require a manual trawl of data and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.

UK Visas and Immigration: Staff

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has been allocated additional resources to fund the necessary increase in staff to provide the additional capacity to the UKVI team following the announcement of and the opening of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

Kevin Foster: We are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system.We actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet caseworking demand of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and the Ukraine Family Scheme which we have launched in response to the crisis in Ukraine.

Asylum: Ukraine

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Ukrainian nationals have applied for asylum in the UK since 24 February 2022.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office publishes data on asylum and resettlement in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of asylum applications broken down by nationality are published in table Asy_D01 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets.Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to December 2021. Data for the period relating to January – March 2022 is set to be published on the 26 May 2022.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Visas: Ukraine

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the average length of time taken between an application being made and a visa being awarded through the (a) the Ukraine Family Scheme and (b) Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Kevin Foster: Applications made under the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine are being prioritised, where further information is needed on an application, UKVI will contact the customer as a priority.As part of the Home Office’s commitment to make it easier for applicants to apply to our schemes, since 15 March Ukrainians with valid passports no longer need to go to a Visa Application Centre to give their biometrics before they come to the UK.The Home Office does not capture the average length of time between applications being submitted and granted under either the Ukraine Family Scheme or Homes for Ukraine Scheme.To capture this would require a manual trawl of data and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.

Asylum: Interviews

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time for scheduling of an asylum substantive interview was over the past five years.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to make decisions on asylum claims that are older than three years.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office does not currently report on the average time that is taken between the date of an asylum claim to the date of a substantive asylum interview taking place. However, the Home Office does publish data on the number asylum applications awaiting an initial decision by duration, for main applicants only. This data can be found at Asy_04 of the published Immigration Statistics: List of tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The Home Office currently have several specialist decision-making units, including a unit progressing older asylum claims. We are also working to increase the number of decision makers, shorten and improve asylum casework training and consolidation. This investment in our people will speed up processing times and increase the throughput of asylum decisions. The decision-making route remains the same for all asylum applications however we have created additional hubs to provide a greater ownership, improved consistency, and management of the cohorts to ensure quick decisions can be made.The Asylum Transformation programme is working to transform the asylum system and continue to streamline and simplify processes to speed up decision making to increase efficiency and output. The development and delivery of changes to the asylum process across the end-to-end asylum system include the increased use of technology, improved screening and accelerated decision-making procedures to drive delivery efficiency.

Visas: Seasonal Workers

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a visa scheme for seasonal workers to support the agricultural industry.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office already operates such an immigration route.The Seasonal worker visa was introduced in March 2019. There are 30,000 visas available this year, but this will begin to taper down from 2023. The total allocation of places for 2022 can increase if needed but by no more than 10,000 places.

Refugees: Ukraine

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Local Sponsorship Scheme for Ukraine will open.

Kevin Foster: The Homes for Ukraine scheme was launched on 14 March 2022 by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Refugees: Ukraine

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by what date her Department plans to (a) publish details of the Local Sponsorship Scheme for Ukraine and (b) open that scheme for applications.

Kevin Foster: The Homes for Ukraine scheme was launched on 14 March 2022 by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Information on the scheme can be found at:Homes for Ukraine: guidance for councils - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Visas: Ukraine

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that Ukrainian visa applications can be processed as quickly as possible.

Kevin Foster: We are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system, and we actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand, including from pressures relating to Ukraine.The Home Office and the commercial provider operating our Visa Application Centres have surged staff across Europe to meet demand, where we can offer over 13,000 appointments to visa applicants, and UKVI staff in the UK are working seven days a week to process applications.Further information can be found on the GOV.UK webpage: Apply for a Ukraine Family Scheme visa - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Visas: Belgium

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional staff with relevant expertise and experience have been allocated to the UK's visa application centres in Belgium since 20 February 2022.

Kevin Foster: We are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system. We actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand, including from pressures relating to Ukraine.

Visas: Moldova

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional staff with relevant expertise and experience have been allocated to the UK's visa application centre in Moldova since 20 February 2022.

Kevin Foster: We are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system. We actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand, including from pressures relating to Ukraine.

Asylum: Ukraine

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the removal of country policy and information notes on Ukraine from the gov.uk website on 24 February 2022, when her Department plans to to publish updated guidance on claiming asylum from that country.

Kevin Foster: We removed our country policy and information notes (CPINs) for Ukraine from GOV.UK on 24 February following the invasion by Russian armed forces as the CPINs no longer fully reflected the situation on the ground.We will release updated CPINs shortly.

Visas: Ukraine

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the average waiting time for appointments at visa application centres for those applying under the Ukraine Family Scheme.

Kevin Foster: We are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system. We actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand, including from pressures relating to Ukraine.The Home Office has surged capacity to European countries including Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Moldova, Poland and Romania. This work has increased the total capacity of UKVI of over 13,000 appointments being available for visa applicants across the region.As part of the Home Office’s commitment to make it easier for applicants to apply to our schemes, since 15 March Ukrainians with passports no longer need to go to a Visa Application Centre to give their biometrics before they come to the UK.

Visas: Ukraine

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional caseworkers has her Department assigned to process applications to the Ukraine Family Scheme since its introduction.

Kevin Foster: We are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system. We actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand.We have UKVI staff in the UK who are working seven days a week to process the Ukraine Family Scheme applications.The Home Office has also surged capacity to European countries including Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Moldova, Poland and Romania. This work has increased the total capacity of UKVI across the region with over 13,000 appointments being available for visa applicants.

Visas: Ukraine

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to speed up the visa application process for refugees fleeing Ukraine.

Kevin Foster: We are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system. We actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand, including from pressures relating to Ukraine.The Home Office and the commercial provider operating our Visa Application Centres have surged staff across Europe to meet demand, where we can offer over 13,000 appointments to visa applicants, and UKVI staff in the UK are working seven days a week to process applications.As part of the Home Office’s commitment to make it easier for applicants to apply to our schemes, since 15 March Ukrainians with valid passports no longer need to go to a Visa Application Centre to give their biometrics before they come to the UK.

Home Office: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in her Department (a) were working on the passage of Ukrainian refugees to the UK on (i) 28 February and (i) 7 March 2022 and (b) will be working on that area on (A) 14 and (B) 21 March 2022 in (I) the UK and (II) other European countries.

Kevin Foster: We are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system. We actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand, including from pressures relating to Ukraine. The Home Office and the commercial provider operating our Visa Application Centres have surged staff across Europe to meet demand, where we can offer over 13,000 appointments to visa applicants, and UKVI staff in the UK are working seven days a week to process applications.

Nitrous Oxide: Misuse

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to help reduce the recreational use and abuse of nitrous oxide.

Kit Malthouse: The Government takes the supply of substances for their psychoactive effect seriously. There are legitimate uses for nitrous oxide, such as in medicine, dentistry and as a propellant for whipped cream canisters, but those who supply nitrous oxide who know, or who are reckless as to whether, it will be used for its psychoactive effect may be subject to a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016.On 3 September, the Government asked the independent statutory advisory body, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, to provide an updated assessment of the harms of nitrous oxide, including whether it should be controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The ACMD is independent of Government and provides a broad range of recommendations, including advice on legislative changes. The Government will consider the ACMD’s advice carefully before deciding how to proceed.

Catalytic Converters: Theft

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to help prevent catalytic converter theft.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the proportion of catalytic converter thefts reported where individuals are later arrested and charged, in the latest period for which data is available.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of catalytic converter thefts reported in the last 12 months.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office does not hold data on the number of catalytic converter thefts reported in the last 12 months, or information on the number of arrests and charges for theft of catalytic converters from motor vehicles centrally.We are continuing to work closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group to tackle vehicle-related thefts. Actions include working with manufacturers of vehicles most susceptible to catalytic converter thefts, and increasing awareness and intelligence-sharing amongst police.We also provided seed corn funding to the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership, which is ensuring national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft, including the theft of catalytic converters. Through this Partnership, national enforcement activity has been carried out to disrupt organised crime, train hundreds of law enforcement officers, investigate and shut down illegal scrap metal and waste sites, recover stolen and forensically mark catalytic converters to deter thefts.

Nitrous Oxide: Sales

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she Department has taken to help control the sale of nitrous oxide.

Kit Malthouse: The Government takes the supply of substances for their psychoactive effect seriously. There are legitimate uses for nitrous oxide, such as in medicine, dentistry and as a propellant for whipped cream canisters, but those who supply nitrous oxide who know, or who are reckless as to whether, it will be used for its psychoactive effect may be subject to a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016.On 3 September, the Government asked the independent statutory advisory body, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, to provide an updated assessment of the harms of nitrous oxide, including whether it should be controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The ACMD is independent of Government and provides a broad range of recommendations, including advice on legislative changes. The Government will consider the ACMD’s advice carefully before deciding how to proceed.

Migrants: Pakistan

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to protect members of the Pakistani diaspora in the UK who have been accused of blasphemy from potential vigilantism.

Rachel Maclean: All forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable, and we have a robust legislative framework to respond to it. We are clear that the cowards who commit these hateful attacks should feel the full force of the law.The Government will always protect people’s legitimate rights – for example, to free speech and to practise their religion within the law – but we cannot and will not shy away from challenging cultures and practices that are harmful to individuals, restrict their rights or hold them back from making the most of the opportunities of living in modern Britain.We encourage all victims of crime to report these to the police so they can be properly investigated, and perpetrators can be brought to justice.

Slavery

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of companies required under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to produce modern slavery statements for the year 2021 that have not done so.

Rachel Maclean: Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 established the UK as the first country in the world to require businesses to report annually on steps taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.Organisations are currently required to ensure their statement has been approved by the board, signed by a director, and is available via the homepage of their website (if they have one). Organisations are required to produce a modern slavery statement to report on their financial year (not the calendar year) and our statutory guidance states that they should publish a statement within 6 months of their financial year end. Therefore, statements covering activity throughout the year 2021 may not have been published yet as organisations have up to 6 months after the end of their 2021/2022 financial year to publish their statement.Historically compliance with section 54 has been high, but we continue to push for higher compliance rates. In 2019, the Home Office contracted the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) to undertake an audit of compliance with Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The audit was concluded in January 2020 with data accurate up to this point. The high-level findings of this audit were published on 17 September 2020 in the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s annual report (available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-anti-slavery-commissioners-annual-report-2019-to-2020).To further drive compliance with section 54, the Government response to the Transparency in Supply Chains consultation, published on 22 September 2020, committed to taking forwards an ambitious package of measures to strengthen the Act’s transparency legislation, including:Extending the reporting requirement to public bodies with a budget of £36 million or more;Mandating the specific reporting topics statements must cover;Setting a single reporting deadline by which all modern slavery statements must be published;Requiring organisations to publish their statement on the new Government registry.The Government has also committed to introduce financial penalties for organisations who fail to meet their statutory obligations to publish annual modern slavery statements. As with the measures contained in the Government response to the transparency in supply chains consultation, this requires legislative change and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.In March 2021, the Government launched the modern slavery statement registry to radically enhance transparency by bringing together modern slavery statements on a single platform. The registry will provide a key tool for Government and others to monitor and drive compliance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. We have been encouraged by use of the registry. Since launch, over 7,300 modern slavery statements covering over 23,950 organisations have been submitted on a voluntary basis.

Police: Standards

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make a duty of candour a legal requirement for all police officers.

Kit Malthouse: The Government takes police integrity and accountability extremely seriously. In February 2020, we introduced a statutory duty of cooperation for serving police officers as part of wider integrity reforms, making it clear that officers have a responsibility to cooperate with investigations, inquiries and formal proceedings when acting as a witness. A failure to cooperate with this duty is a breach of the statutory standards of professional behaviour, by which all officers must abide, and could therefore result in disciplinary sanction.The Home Office will continue to assess the impact of this existing duty on police co-operation with inquiries and investigations, and the Home Secretary will set out her conclusions on a specific duty of candour for the police later this year in response to the reports of Bishop James Jones on the experiences of Hillsborough families’, and of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel.

Homes for Ukraine Scheme

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas the Government had issued to Ukrainian refugees under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) as of 24 March 2022.

Kevin Foster: The Homes for Ukraine scheme was launched on 14 March 2022 by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Information on the scheme can be found at:Homes for Ukraine: guidance for councils - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Temporary Accommodation

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his policy is on the maximum time that people should stay in temporary housing settings.

Eddie Hughes: Time spent in temporary accommodation means people are getting help and it ensures no family is without a roof over their head. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide temporary accommodation for households owed the main homelessness duty until suitable long-term accommodation can be offered to them - there is no statutory limit on the length of time this may take.The Government has been clear that the long-term use of bed and breakfast accommodation for families with children is both inappropriate and unlawful and we are determined to stop this practice. Housing authorities must not use B&Bs to accommodate families with children or pregnant women except where there is no alternative available, and then for a maximum period of 6 weeks. We will continue to work with local authorities to limit the use of bed and breakfast accommodation.The Government is committed to fully enforcing the Homelessness Reduction Act, including helping local authorities to support families to move out of temporary accommodation. In 2021/22, local authorities received £375 million through the Homelessness Prevention Grant, and can use this funding flexibly, including to offer financial support for people to find a new home. In 2022/23, we will provide a further £315.8 million to local authorities through the Homelessness Prevention Grant.

Private Rented Housing: Evictions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to bring forward proposals to end the use of Section 21 eviction notices in the context of increases in housing costs in the private rented sector.

Eddie Hughes: The Government remains committed to delivering a better deal for renters and abolishing Section 21 evictions. We want to improve security for tenants in the rental sector and empower them to hold their landlord to account.We will publish a landmark White Paper this spring. The White Paper will provide further detail on repealing Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, improving security for tenants by putting an end to evictions where the landlord doesn’t have to provide a reason. We will bring forward legislation in due course and when parliamentary time allows.The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges, but the government has taken action to support families worth over £22 billion in 2022-23 to help. As announced in the Spring Statement, the Government is continuing to provide targeted cost of living support for households most in need. From April, we are providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials through the Household Support Fund, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion. The funding is primarily being used to support households with the cost of essentials, although councils have flexibility to best address local needs

Energy Performance Certificates: Complaints

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on how many occasions in the last 10 years his Department has requested analysis from accreditation schemes for energy assessors on complaints they have recorded under the Scheme Operating Requirements.

Eddie Hughes: Energy Assessor Accreditation Schemes are required to have complaints systems in place to deal with complaints about individual energy assessments. The Department has no plans to require Accreditation Schemes to submit data to the department relating to complaints about their members and has not requested this data in the past.

Energy Performance Certificates: Complaints

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how his Department decides when to undertake audit surveillance on Energy Assessor Accreditation schemes; how much audit surveillance of those schemes his Department has undertaken in each of the last 12 months; and whether his Department plans to publish the results of that surveillance.

Eddie Hughes: Energy Assessor Accreditation Schemes are audited by the Department four times per year to ensure that Schemes continue to meet the minimum standards required under the Scheme Operating Requirements. The Department has no plans to publish the results of these audits.

Energy Performance Certificates

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will publish the collated data for each Energy Assessor and Accreditation Scheme in each of the last 12 months, including on domestic energy assessor complaints and reporting.

Eddie Hughes: The Department has no plans to publish reporting data provided by Energy Assessor Accreditation Schemes.The Energy Assessor Accreditation Schemes are required to have complaints systems in place to deal with complaints about individual energy assessments. The department occasionally receives complaints about how Accreditation Schemes have handled complaints made to them but does not hold a record of the numbers of these.

Energy Performance Certificates

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will publish monthly reports from Accreditation Schemes for the production of energy certificates detailing EPC activity.

Eddie Hughes: The department publishes weekly and monthly statistics on the number of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) lodged to the EPC Register. This information is available on Gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-energy-performance-of-buildings-certificatesEPC data is also regularly published on Open Data Communities, with between two and four updates per year: https://epc.opendatacommunities.org/

Utilities: Billing

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential capacity of a (a) landlord or (b) letting agent to increase a tenant's utility bill mid-way through an Assured Shorthold Tenancy contract.

Eddie Hughes: Many private tenants are responsible for choosing their provider for energy, broadband and other services and therefore for paying their own utility bills. An all-inclusive tenancy is where the tenant is charged rent and other bills such as utilities as one payment. In addition to rent this may include utility bills, phone / broadband bills, Council tax, TV licence, and other services.Where the landlord is responsible for paying the energy supplier and bills the tenant separately to rent, the landlord can only charge for the ‘maximum resale price’ which includes the energy the tenant has used, the tenant’s share of the standing charge, and the VAT owed.In February 2022 the Government announced a £9.1 billion energy bills rebate package, worth up to £350 each for around 28 million households. Domestic energy customers in Great Britain will receive a £200 reduction in energy bills this Autumn, which will be paid back automatically over the next 5 years.

Council Tax: Energy Bills Rebate

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how households who do not pay their council tax by direct debit can claim the £150 council tax rebate.

Kemi Badenoch: My Department has issued FAQs to help local authorities administer the council tax rebate. These include information on flexible payment options for households in different circumstances, which balance administrative ease and accessibility with the need to manage fraud risk.

Question

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, If he will make an assessment of the potential constitutional implications of proposed boundary changes.

Kemi Badenoch: The current constituency boundaries are based on data that is already 20 years old, disregarding significant changes in demographics, house building and migration.Up-to-date, more equally sized constituencies will make our elections fairer, ensuring that every vote counts the same, wherever it is cast across the United Kingdom. It is in everyone’s interest that our political system is fair. If we let some constituencies stay smaller than others, voters in the smaller constituencies will have more power than those in larger ones, which cannot be right.The current Boundary Review is being undertaken by the independent and judge-led Boundary Commissions with extensive public consultation.The principles governing the approach to boundary changes were all debated and approved by Parliament in the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020.

Community Ownership Fund

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to make 10 year leases available in the second round of the Community Ownership Fund, to support bids from community groups to use disused properties to fulfil local social purposes.

Neil O'Brien: We have been exploring ways in which we can change the eligibility requirements of the Community Ownership Fund to ensure that deserving projects are able to access this funding. We will be announcing these changes, including those around lease requirements, soon when we publish the updated prospectus ahead of the fund reopening in Spring.

Community Ownership Fund

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to announce the opening of the second round of the Community Ownership Fund to submissions.

Neil O'Brien: Following a review of the lessons learned in the first bidding round, we are currently making changes to the Community Ownership Fund in order to support a greater number of community assets to benefit from the Fund. We will be publishing an updated prospectus ahead of the launch of the second round in Spring and we look forward to receiving more applications from community groups seeking to save their treasured community assets in the very near future.

Homes for Ukraine Scheme

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of people who apply successfully to be hosts through the Homes for Ukraine will be able to provide sanctuary to people fleeing Ukraine in the next (a) week, (b) two weeks and (c) month.

Eddie Hughes: I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answers given to Question UIN 145857 on 28 March 2022 and Question UIN 144955 on 29 March 2022, which include links to published guidance and information at Gov.uk.

Refugees: Ukraine

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2022 to Question 139524 and with reference to his statement of 14 March 2022, Official Report, col 619, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities in ensuring that Ukrainian refuges have access (a) schools, (b) public health, (c) trauma counselling and (d) other public services.

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2022 to Question 139347, and with reference to his statement of 14 March 2022, Official Report, col 619, whether the universal credit payments of people who provide accommodation to refugees will be affected by receiving the £350 monthly payment under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to use (a) Airbnb and (b) other short-term holiday lets for the purpose of homing refugees fleeing Ukraine until they are settled elsewhere or able to return home.

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the ways in which (a) disused care homes and (b) other public buildings can be repurposed to support refugees coming to the UK from Ukraine.

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his statement of 14 March 2022, Official Report, col 619, whether he plans to have discussions with developers on purposing properties for use by refugees.

Eddie Hughes: I refer my Hon Friend to the answers given to Question UIN 145857 on 28 March 2022 and Question UIN 144955 on 29 March 2022, which include links to published guidance and information at Gov.uk.

Homes for Ukraine Scheme: Rented Housing

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress he has made on developing guidance for (a) private and (b) social landlords on tenants hosting people fleeing Ukraine through the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the £350 per month payment for sponsors in the Homes for Ukraine Scheme will be included in income and expenditure calculations for debt solutions.

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his Department's target timeframe is for matching Ukrainian nationals with organisations that have applied to be sponsors under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Eddie Hughes: I refer the Hon Member to the answers given to Question UIN 145857 on 28 March 2022 and Question UIN 144955 on 29 March 2022, which include links to published guidance and information at Gov.uk.

Refugees: Ukraine

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether refugees who have been accepted under the Ukraine Family scheme can transfer to the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Eddie Hughes: Ukrainian nationals who are already in the UK are not currently eligible for this scheme. I refer the Hon. Member to the FAQs published online at: www.gov.uk/guidance/homes-for-ukraine-scheme-frequently-asked-questions .

Refugees: Ukraine

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether a person hosting a Ukrainian refugee under the Ukraine Family scheme will continue to be able to claim the single person council tax deduction.

Eddie Hughes: Decisions on council tax reliefs and discounts are matters for local councils. Arrivals from Ukraine may, depending on their circumstances, be liable for council tax but are able to work and will have recourse to local council tax support and benefits. Councils also have powers to offer discretionary council tax discounts where they consider that appropriate

Members: Correspondence

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Luton South of 16 March 2022 on London Luton Airport Operations Limited's annual passenger cap amendment.

Stuart Andrew: A response to the Hon Member will be issued shortly.

Church Commissioners

Church of England: Wigan

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the pastoral reorganisation of Wigan in the Diocese of Liverpool, Scheme 08072019, if the Diocese will provide figures for the (a) requested and (b) donated Parish Share in each of the 29 former parishes and the 7 new parishes in each year from 2016 to 2021.

Andrew Selous: The Church Commissioners have indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Church of England: Wigan

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Transforming Wigan project in the Diocese of Liverpool, if the Church of England will provide figures for parish giving in each of the (a) 29 former parishes and (b) 7 new parishes in the Deanery of Wigan in the Diocese of Liverpool in each year from 2016 to 2021.

Andrew Selous: The Church Commissioners have indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Church of England: Wigan

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Transforming Wigan project in the Diocese of Liverpool, if the Church of England will provide figures for the worshipping community in each of the (a) 29 former parishes and (b) 7 new parishes in the deanery of Wigan in the Diocese of Liverpool in each year from 2016 to 2021.

Andrew Selous: The Church Commissioners have indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Departmental Expenditure Limits

Angela Rayner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the reasons are for the variation in Resource Departmental Expenditure Limits for the Cabinet Office outlined in his spring statement between 2021-2022 and 2024-2025.

Michael Ellis: Resource Departmental Expenditure Limits for the Cabinet Office are expected to fall from £1.0bn in 2021-22 to £0.5bn in 2024-25. The primary reasoning for this reduction is the inclusion of time-limited activities in the 2021-22 financial year, in particular, the G7 Summit, held in June 2021 and the COP26 Conference, held in December 2021. These activities combined added some £0.3bn to the department’s costs in 2021-22.In addition, the 2021-22 financial year continues to include some costs related to the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Latest forecasts indicate that approximately £0.2bn will be incurred in 2021-22 primarily on public information campaigns and cross-government coordination.Beyond this, the 2021 Spending Review settlement includes efficiencies and cost savings identified by the department which will further reduce Resource costs over the next three years.

EU Law

Hilary Benn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many members of the public have contacted his Department to request the abolition of any EU regulations to date.

Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: As I stated on 24 February at Oral Answers to Questions (Hansard Volume 709, Column 440), I have received over 1,800 recommendations from members of the public in response to my requests to readers of The Sun and The Sunday Express.

Death

Esther McVey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many excess deaths there were in week 17 to week 51 of 2021, compared with the 2015-2019 baseline.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: I refer the Rt hon. Member to my answer to PQ 144893 on 28 March.

Cabinet Office: Racial Discrimination

Ruth Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to tackle alleged racial discrimination in his Department.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: A ‘Respect and Inclusion review’ for the Cabinet Office is currently underway. In the recent Declaration on Government reform, Ministers and Permanent Secretaries committed to set a new standard for diversity and inclusion, including guaranteeing fairness at work and zero tolerance for Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination.Our position at the centre of government - delivering against an ambitious agenda - means we have a responsibility to get this right. The review will have a particular focus on race and disability where our data shows scope for improvement.

Members: Correspondence

John Spellar: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he will reply to the correspondence of 12 August 2021 from the hon. Member for Warley on Mr Zaman.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Rt Hon Member wrote to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), which is independent of the Cabinet Office. I understand that the PHSO did receive the Rt Hon Member’s letter of 12 August 2021, and will respond shortly.

Treasury

Treasury: upReach

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many individuals were identified as suitable candidates to receive support from Upreach Services Ltd when applying for HM Treasury’s October 2021 Graduate Development Programme; and what was their breakdown according to (a) ethnic background, (b) socioeconomic background, (c) type of school attended, and (d) location of family home.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many individuals were identified as suitable candidates to receive support from Upreach Services Ltd when applying for HM Treasury’s October 2021 Graduate Development Programme; and what percentage attended (a) Oxford or Cambridge universities, (b) another Russell Group university, or (c) a non Russell Group university, for their first degree.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what percentage of candidates for HM Treasury’s Graduate Development Programme received help with their preparation for the programme’s pre-assessment tests from Upreach Services Ltd. between October and December 2021; and what percentage that group comprised of the total number of candidates selected for assessment.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what percentage of candidates at HM Treasury’s Graduate Development Programme assessment centre received one-to-one coaching from Upreach Services Ltd. between December 2021 and February 2022 to support their preparation for the centre; and what percentage that group comprised of the total number of candidates subsequently offered places.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people who received support from Upreach Service Ltd. to apply for his Department's October 2021 Graduate Development Programme were offered places on the programme, broken down by (a) ethnic background, (b) socioeconomic background, (c) type of school attended and (d) location of family home.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people who received support from Upreach Services Ltd. to apply for his Department's October 2021 Graduate Development Programme were offered places on that programme; and what proportion of those successful applicants attended (a) Oxford or Cambridge universities, (b) another Russell Group university and (c) a non Russell Group university, for their first degree.

Helen Whately: The information requested is not available at this point as upReach Services Ltd have not compiled the data.

Debts: Ukraine

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of writing off all debt owed by Ukraine to the UK.

John Glen: The Chancellor continues to engage with G7 partners and International Financial Institutions on progressing current and future support to Ukraine. Alongside our allies, we’ve hit Russia with the most severe package of sanctions it has ever seen. Our economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine also now totals around £400 million. This includes a £220 million package of aid, making the UK a leading bilateral humanitarian donor; a £100 million grant to support Ukraine’s energy and security reforms, primarily delivered through World Bank programmes; and a $100 million budgetary support grant, which contributed to a package agreed on 8 March of over $700 million for direct fiscal support to Ukraine via the World Bank, to help mitigate direct economic impacts. The UK also stands ready to provide up to $500 million in guarantees to support Multilateral Development Bank lending, which will enable them to significantly scale up their financial support offer to Ukraine.

Freezing of Assets: Russia

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the total value of assets frozen to date under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Amendment Regulations 2022.

John Glen: Relevant firms are legally obliged to report to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) if they hold frozen assets of a designated person or entity they suspect to be on the list of asset freeze targets. OFSI is currently receiving a high volume of reporting about assets being frozen relating to sanctions imposed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This information is being collated and assured. Fuller details will be released in due course, and will mark a substantial increase on previous assets reported as frozen under Russia sanctions.

Freezing of Assets: Iran

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the total value of assets frozen to date under the The Iran (Sanctions) (Human Rights) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

John Glen: The Office of Financial Sanctions (OFSI) undertakes an annual frozen assets review, requiring all persons or institutions that hold or control frozen assets in the UK to report to OFSI, from which this figure is taken. The figures are then published in OFSI’s annual review each autumn. The total frozen assets reported in the 2021 annual review were £12.2 billion. The figures for 2021 are being finalised. As at September 2020, the value of assets reported to OFSI as frozen in the UK under The Iran (Sanctions) (Human Rights) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 was £17.60.

Refugees: Ukraine

Joanna Cherry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2022 to Question 143714 on Refugees: Ukraine, what steps the Government can take to facilitate the exchange of Hryvnia notes for Sterling given the controls on the Ukrainian currency.

John Glen: I refer the honourable member to the answer that I gave on 24 March 2022 to UIN 143714.

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation: Staff

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) full and (b) part time members of staff have been employed by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation in each of the last five years.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many members of staff allocated to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation speak (a) Russian and (b) Ukrainian.

John Glen: The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, is the competent authority for financial sanctions in the UK. The number of active staff in OFSI since Financial Year 2016-2017 can be found in the table below: Financial YearTotal number of staff2016-2017272017-2018302018-2019362019-2020382020-202140 Where the number of individuals covered is less than five, HMG considers that to provide an exact figure would constitute the disclosure of personal data. HMT is therefore unable to provide a breakdown of full time vs. part time staff. In light of recent developments in Ukraine, the number of staff has since increased. Releasing further details of OFSI’s budget and headcount by function could prejudice its operational effectiveness. HM Treasury does not hold data regarding the number of staff in the OFSI who speak (a) Russian and (b) Ukrainian.

Cash Dispensing

Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made on the findings of the Access to Cash consultation which closed on 23 September 2021.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to protect access to cash.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will include legislative proposals in the 2022 Queen’s Speech to ensure consumers have freely available access to cash.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent progress he has made on legislating to protect access to cash; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: The Government recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, and remains committed to legislating to protect access to cash. As part of the Financial Services Act 2021, the Government made legislative changes to support the widespread offering of cashback without a purchase by shops and other businesses. From 1 July to 23 September last year, the Government held the Access to Cash Consultation on further proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The Government’s proposals intend to support the continued use of cash in people’s daily lives and help to enable local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they can access deposit facilities. The Government received responses to the consultation from a broad range of respondents, including individuals, businesses, and charities. The Government has carefully considered responses to the consultation and will set out next steps in due course.

Cost of Living: Carers

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what additional support his Department is providing to carers in response to rising costs of living.

Mr Simon Clarke: The government understands the pressures that households are facing with the cost of living and is monitoring the situation closely. These are global challenges, but the government is providing support worth over £22 billion in 2022-2023 to help families with these pressures, much of which will help carers on low incomes. This includes providing millions of households with up to £350 to help with rising energy bills and helping people keep more of what they earn. The government has cut the Universal Credit taper rate and increased work allowances meaning that 1.7 million households will, on average, keep an extra £1000 per annum. The government has also announced a further rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour from April 2022 which is an increase of over £1,000 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on NLW, in addition to freezing alcohol duty.The Spring Statement went further, with the government announcing an increase to the annual National Insurance Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit to £12,570, a cut to fuel duty by 5 pence per litre, and an additional £500m to help with the cost of essentials such as food, clothing and utilities through the Household Support Fund.Carers and their vital contribution to society are also recognised within the welfare system. Carers can receive additional support through Carer’s Allowance, the Carer Element in Uni versal Credit and through Pension Credit. The weekly rate of Carer’s Allowance will increase to £69.70 in April 2022. Around 360,000 carer households on Universal Credit can receive an additional £1,965 a year through the Carer Element, ensuring that extra support is focused on those carers who need it most. This amount will increase from April 2022 and will benefit carers across the country.

Taxation

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what annual (a) expenditure has been allocated for the cost of implementing his Department’s Tax Administration Strategy reforms and (b) return to the Exchequer is forecast to result from that investment.

Lucy Frazer: At the recent Spending Review the government provided HMRC with funding to deliver the government’s ambition to build a modern digital tax and customs system as part of its Tax Administration Strategy.Over the 3-year Spending Review period, HMRC will build on the success of the Making Tax Digital programme, helping to make tax simpler for businesses, reduce the scope for errors, and deliver the Single Customer Account, which will create a simpler, faster and better customer experience, allowing taxpayers to see and manage all their tax affairs in one place. HMRC was also given funding to modernise its IT systems and improve the quality, resilience and security of its digital services. This funding will reduce the risk of system failures, enhance the department’s ability to defend against cyberattacks and support the continued digitisation and modernisation of the tax system. It will also transform the way HMRC procures IT, creating more opportunities for smaller businesses to compete for contracts and deliver greater technological innovation.

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Drew Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of average HMRC telephony response times; and what recent assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) effectiveness of HMRC telephony response times.

Lucy Frazer: Information on HMRC’s performance is published here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reportshttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates HMRC is in discussion with HMT and Ministers to agree expected performance levels and commitments for 2022-23. These will be presented in the Outcome Delivery Plan, to be published early in 2022-23.

Health and Social Care Levy

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to employers of the health and social care levy by sector.

Lucy Frazer: The table below shows the estimated exchequer yield of the employer portion of the Health and Social Care Levy, in the 2022 to 2023 tax year, by sector: SectorExchequer yieldOther*£490mAccommodation and food service activities£185mAdministrative and support service activities£515mArts, entertainment and recreation£100mConstruction£400mEducation£995mFinancial and insurance activities£1,000mHuman health and social work activities£975mInformation and communication£685mManufacturing£895mOther service activities£125mProfessional, scientific and technical activities£990mReal estate activities£155mTransportation and storage£345mWholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles£925mTotal£8,775m Figures are rounded to the nearest £5 million. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Other* sector includes: ‘Unknown’, ‘Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies’, ‘Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods-and services-producing activities of households for own use’, ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing’, ‘Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply’, ‘Mining and quarrying’, ‘Public administration and defence; compulsory social security’, ‘Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities’. These sectors were aggregated due to their small size, to avoid the risk of disclosure.

Enterprise Management Incentives

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place a copy of the (a) evidence underpinning the decision taken in the 2022 Spring Statement to not make changes to the Enterprise Management Incentive, (b) summary of consultation responses, (c) any commissioned or internal evaluation and (d) any other relevant data or other evidence, in the Library.

Lucy Frazer: The Government will publish a summary of responses to the Enterprise Management Incentive review once the review has concluded. Any externally commissioned evaluation will be published in the usual way, in line with the Government’s Social Research Publication Protocol.

National Insurance Contributions

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library (a) a list of meetings between him or officials in his Department and representatives of the payroll sector including the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals for (i) 1 January 2022 and (ii) 23 March 2022 and (b) the (A) agendas, (B) attendance notes and (C) minutes of those meetings; and whether discussions were held with representatives of the payroll sector on the timescale and method for implementing changes to National Insurance thresholds and rates.

Lucy Frazer: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Capital Allowances

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, by how much the Office for Budget Responsibility revised up or down its estimate of the impact of the Corporation Tax Super-deduction on business investment between the October 2021 Economic and Fiscal Outlook and the March 2022 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place a copy of any interim or final evidence held by his Department on the effectiveness of the Corporation Tax Super-deduction in stimulating business investment, including quantitative data, process or outcome evaluation, in the Library.

Lucy Frazer: In the latest Economy and Fiscal Outlook, the OBR have said that the super-deduction and the easing of global supply bottlenecks means they still expect historically high growth in business investment over 2022. The OBR have revised down the anticipated peak amount of business investment brought forward by the super-deduction to 5 per cent in 2022-23 (from the 10 per cent previously assumed). A full evaluation of the effectiveness of the super-deduction in stimulating business investment will require HMRC to hold corporate tax returns for the financial years 2021-22 and 2022-23. Any externally commissioned evaluation will be published in the usual way, in line with the Government Social Research Publication Protocol.

Health and Social Care Levy

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to employers of the health and social care levy, by region.

Lucy Frazer: It is not possible to provide a regional breakdown of the employer portion of the Health and Social Care Levy impact.

Employees' Contributions: Females

James Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of women who will be affected by the increase of the Married Women’s Reduced Rate of National Insurance contributions made by the Social Security (Contributions) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2022; and if he will publish a breakdown of those women by their (i) average age, (ii) average earnings, (iii) average level of savings, (iv) average level of deprivation and (v) job.

James Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department expects to raise in 2022-23 as a result of the increase of the Married Women’s Reduced Rate of National Insurance contributions made by the Social Security (Contributions) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2022.

James Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate how much it will cost to (a) draft and (b) implement the Social Security (Contributions) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2022. including the cost of the time spent by (i) officials at the Treasury, (ii) House of Commons staff and (iii) ministers in relation to these regulations.

Lucy Frazer: HMRC expects there to be fewer than 1,000 employments that would be affected by this Statutory Instrument (SI). No breakdown is readily available to provide the data requested for this group of women. This component of the Health and Social Care Levy (HSCL) policy is expected to have a small impact on the Exchequer. This impact is included within the wider costings of the HSCL and has not been costed separately. As the measure was announced last September, the impact of the changes contained in this SI have already been captured in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast, which was most recently updated alongside the Spring Statement. The Exchequer Impact relating more broadly to the HSCL was set out in the Spring 2022 Economic and fiscal outlook Table A.5: https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/CCS0222366764-001_OBR-EFO-March-2022_Web-Accessible-2.pdf. This SI was introduced to ensure a fair and consistent NICs system, so that those that pay NICs and benefit from additional health and social care spending, contribute. There are no additional costs resulting from this SI as the policy to introduce this change was set out following the introduction of the HSCL Act 2021. Not proceeding with this SI would have led to reversing the changes already being implemented by HMRC and external software providers which would have resulted in costs for payroll operators and businesses.

Child Benefit

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be required to pay the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge in each of the next five years due to the the freeze in the income tax higher rate threshold.

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people paid the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge in each year since 2011.

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office of Budget Responsibility document entitled The effect of the personal allowance and higher rate threshold freezes on taxpayer numbers published on 13 January 2022, what assessment he has made of the impact of freezing the income tax (a) personal allowance and (b) higher rate threshold on the number of people who will be eligible to claim child benefit.

Lucy Frazer: Child Benefit is a universal benefit payable to families as a contribution towards the costs of raising a child or children. Entitlement to Child Benefit is dependent on a person making a claim for it and it is not means-tested. The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) was introduced in 2013 and is a tax charge which applies to anyone with an income of over £50,000 who gets Child Benefit, or whose partner gets it. The charge increases gradually for those with incomes between £50,000 and £60,000 and is equal to one per cent of a family’s Child Benefit for every extra £100 of income that is over £50,000 each year. Where income exceeds £60,000, the tax charge is equal to the amount payable in Child Benefit. Individuals can also opt-out of getting Child Benefit payments and avoid paying HICBC. The HICBC thresholds are not linked to the Income Tax higher rate threshold or the personal allowance. The Government set the HICBC thresholds at these levels to help target public expenditure in the way it considered most effective. As with all elements of tax policy, the Government keeps this under review as part of the annual Budget process. The number of people who will be required to pay the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge in future years will depend on many factors including the numbers of individuals who choose to opt-out of Child Benefit payments. Annual updates on the numbers of individuals who are liable to HICBC are published each Autumn at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-income-child-benefit-charge-data/high-income-child-benefit-charge.

UK Infrastructure Bank

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the UK Infrastructure Bank plans to invest in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23, (c) 2023-24 and (d) 2024-25.

John Glen: The UK Infrastructure Bank launched on 17 June 2021. UKIB has a maximum financial capacity of £22 billion consisting of £12 billion for lending and investment alongside the ability to issue £10 billion of guarantees. As set out in the Bank’s Framework Document, at an annual level UKIB is able to draw down up to £1.5 billion of equity capital in any given year for the first five years, (up to a £5 billion limit) and is able to borrow up to £1.5 billion a year (up to a £7 billion total borrowing limit). UKIB will also be able to issue up to £10 billion of guarantees overall, with up to £2.5 billion in guarantees in any given year. The Bank has completed five deals since its launch, totalling £310 million of commitments. Details of deals which have been announced can be found on UKIB’s website. As a new financial institution, and as set out in the UKIB Policy Design paper published at Spring Budget 2021, UKIB will require time to build up and scale up its activity. This will include the publication of a Strategic Plan in June 2022, setting out UKIB’s overall strategy and investment approach within the mandate set by government and including details on investments across the relevant forecast period.

Food: Prices

Jim McMahon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken through the Spring Statement to tackle food inflation.

John Glen: As the global economy recovers from COVID-19, many economies are experiencing high inflation, in part due to pressures from rising energy and commodity prices, along with disruptions to global supply chains caused by a mismatch between elevated global demand and bottlenecks in supply as a result of the pandemic. The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living as a result of high inflation, and that a range of factors mean individuals may experience cost rises differently. Including the measures announced in the Spring Statement, the Government is providing support to families worth over £22 billion in 2022-23.

Infosys: Russia

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on UK involvement with Infosys in response to that company's ongoing operational links to Russia.

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any Ministers or senior civil servants in his Department have met anyone currently subject to sanctions imposed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the last 18 months.

John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Freezing of Assets

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the total value of assets that have fled the UK's jurisdiction while being investigated by the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation for potential breaches of sanctions.

John Glen: The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation is committed to ensuring businesses and individuals comply with financial sanctions to taking firm action when they don’t, including levying monetary penalties where appropriate. It is important to note that assets are only required to be frozen after a sanctions designation has been made. After the designation, it is an offence to deal with any funds that have been frozen.

Cash Dispensing: St Helens North

Conor McGinn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his Department has had with commercial banks operating in St Helens North constituency on protecting (a) free to use ATMs and (b) wider access to cash.

Conor McGinn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the status is of the Access to Cash consultation; and when his Department plans to respond to it.

John Glen: The government recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, particularly those in vulnerable groups, and has committed to legislate to protect access to cash. From 1 July to 23 September last year, the government held an Access to Cash Consultation on proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The government’s proposals intend to support the continued use of cash in people’s daily lives and help to enable local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they can access deposit facilities. The government has carefully considered responses to the consultation and will set out next steps in due course. Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel On access to free-to-use ATMs specifically, free-to-use ATMs, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK has committed to protect free-to-use ATMs more than one kilometre away from the next nearest free ATM or Post Office, and free access to cash on high streets (where there is a cluster of five or more retailers) that do not have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within one kilometre. Following the Government’s commitment to legislate, firms are working together through the Cash Action Group to develop new initiatives to provide shared services. The Government welcomes the direction set by industry’s commitments at the end of last year and looks forward to seeing what results they deliver in protecting cash facilities for local communities across the UK.

Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer,  if he will bring forward legislative proposals protect access to free to use cash machines; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: The Government recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, and remains committed to legislating to protect access to cash. From 1 July to 23 September last year, the Government held the Access to Cash Consultation on proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The Government’s proposals included making the FCA the lead regulator for retail cash access. As part of this the FCA would be expected to set out reasonable access requirements for cash facilities in regulatory rules, such as the appropriateness of facilities for vulnerable users, includingconsiderations such as cost for end users. The Government received responses to the consultation from a broad range of respondents, including individuals, businesses, and charities. The Government has carefully considered responses to the consultation and will set out next steps in due course.

Financial Ombudsman Service: Accountability

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (a) framework and (b) processes for holding the financial ombudsman to account.

John Glen: The Government believes that it is vitally important that the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) should be accountable for its performance and the quality of its work. The FOS answers to a board of directors, appointed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and must make a report each year on the discharge of its functions. The FCA’s appointment of the Chair of the FOS is subject to approval by the Treasury, on behalf of the Government.The FOS’s accountability to Parliament consists of its duties to report to Parliament and Parliament’s ability to scrutinise, question and make recommendations to the FOS. Members of the board of the scheme operator which runs the FOS may be called to account in person before Parliamentary committees, including the Treasury Select Committee, and written Parliamentary questions on the FOS operations are passed directly to the FOS to respond.The Government has taken steps to further enhance the FOS’s accountability to Parliament. Under new provisions in the Financial Services Act 2012, the FOS is required to lay its annual report and accounts before Parliament and made subject to statutory NAO audit, with the associated ability of the NAO to carry out detailed Value for Money Studies. This will ensure Parliament is in a better position to consider the efficiency, effectiveness and economy with which the FOS carries out its functions.

Azure Services: Loans

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) liaising with the Azure and Barclays Action and Support Group on the loans issued outside of the April 2014 – April 2016 period and (b) investigating the allegations of regulatory failures associated with Barclays Partner Finance and Azure Services Ltd.

John Glen: The Government is aware of the campaign by the Azure and Barclays Action and Support Group for consumers to receive compensation for loans outside the April 2014 – April 2016 period. However, the regulation of consumer credit is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which operates independently of Government. The Treasury has no general power of direction over the FCA and cannot intervene on specific matters.

Financial Markets

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of applying affordability criteria to people wishing to trade shares, commodities, currency or crypto.

John Glen: The Government is committed to striking a careful balance between improving broad access to financial markets, while also ensuring that appropriate protection measures are in place. This reflects the Government’s broader ambition to ensure that the benefits of corporate growth can be broadly shared, while ensuring financial markets work effectively for all market participants. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the UK’s independent financial markets conduct regulator and is responsible for protecting consumers. The FCA has published several statements about the potential risks of investing in securities and has warned consumers that that any losses that result from such investments are not always covered under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Similarly, the FCA has banned the sale of cryptoasset derivatives to retail consumers, and has issued a warning stating that consumers who invest in cryptoassets should be prepared to lose their money.  Furthermore, on 18 January 2022, the government set out its intention to legislate later this year to bring certain cryptoassets into financial promotion regulation.

Debts: Southern Africa

Olivia Blake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of cancelling the debt of (a) Mozambique and (b) other countries in southern Africa that have been heavily impacted by tropical storm Ana.

John Glen: We recognise the significant impact of Storm Ana on Mozambique. It is clear that other countries, including Malawi and Madagascar, have also been severely affected. If affected countries are facing significant debt vulnerabilities, they can – if eligible – request a treatment under the Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI. This was agreed by the UK, along with the G20 and Paris Club, to help deliver a long-term, sustainable approach for supporting low-income countries to tackle their debt vulnerabilities For countries that make a request to the Common Framework, treatments can include both the reprofiling of debt or a full restructuring, which, depending on need, may entail debt cancellation. This should enable more efficient, equitable, and effective case-by-case restructurings, allowing low-income countries requesting debt treatment to benefit from a transparent and responsive approach. In addition to this, the UK is exploring the development of innovative debt instruments that could provide automatic fiscal space in the event of a significant weather event or other natural disaster, to help increase the long-term climate resilience of vulnerable countries. The UK is actively calling for creditors and debtors to explore the introduction of these climate-resilient debt instruments.

Food Poverty

Jim McMahon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department has (a) allocated and (b) spent in each year since 2015 on ending food poverty.

Mr Simon Clarke: The government is providing support to families worth over £22 billion in 2022-23 to help them with the cost of living. This includes:providing the majority of households with £350 to help with rising energy bills;helping people keep more of what they earn by cutting the Universal Credit taper rate and increasing Universal Credit work allowances, meaning that 1.7 million households will on average keep around an extra £1,000 on an annual basis;a further rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour from April 2022. This means an increase of over £1,000 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW.The Spring Statement goes further, with the government announcing an increase to the annual National Insurance Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit to £12,570, a cut to fuel duty, and an additional £500m to help with the cost of essentials through the Household Support Fund.We have increased the value of Healthy Start Food Vouchers and we are investing over £200 million a year from 2022 to continue our Holiday Activities and Food programme which is already providing enriching activities and healthy meals to children in all English local authorities.In total, the government will provide £250 billion of support in 22-23 through the welfare system across the UK, including £40 billion through Universal Credit and £111 billion through the State Pension.The latest published statistics as part of DWP's Households Below Average Income publication show the percentage of households that were food insecure has fallen from 8% in 2019-20 to 6% in 2020-21.

Public Sector: Pay

Beth Winter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his statement on 27 October 2021 Official Report, col 28, that public sector workers will see fair and affordable pay rises across the whole Spending Review period, how his Department defines the term fair.

Mr Simon Clarke: Spending Review 2021 announced that public sector workers will see pay rises over the next three years as the recovery in the economy and labour market allowed a return to a normal pay setting process.  Pay for most frontline workforces - including nurses, teachers and armed forces - is set through an independent Pay Review Body (PRB) process. They will consider a range of evidence when forming their recommendations, including the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people; the financial circumstances of government; the government’s policies for improving public services; and the government’s inflation target. They will consider the whole remuneration package of those working in the public sector when forming their recommendations, including substantially more generous pensions. The Government will carefully consider all recommendations from the Pay Review Bodies once their final reports are submitted.

Treasury: Public Opinion

Angela Rayner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department spent on focus groups in (a) 2019 and (b) 2020.

Helen Whately: Any spend over £25,000 can be found by following the link below:HM Treasury spend over £25,000 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) In 2019 we did not conduct any focus groups. In 2020, we spent £240,538 on combined focus groups and polling services from Hanbury Strategy – this includes all of our spend on focus groups that year, but it is not possible to disaggregate the amount spent on focus groups specifically. This is for invoices paid during the period January 2019 to December 2020.

Government Internal Audit Agency: Recruitment

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what annual expenditure has been allocated for the cost of increasing the full time equivalent headcount of the Government Internal Audit Agency by 20 per cent in 2022-23; and what estimate he has made of the annual return to the Exchequer as a result of that expenditure.

Helen Whately: As at March 2021, the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) employed 446 full-time equivalent staff. GIAA’s headcount for 2022-23 is being finalised as part of the Agency’s internal planning processes, so there are currently no comparative figures for workforce changes in the Agency. As outlined in GIAA's Corporate Plan, the Agency allocated £32.5m for staff costs in 2021-22. Budget allocations for 2022-23 staff costs will be published in GIAA's 2022-23 Corporate Plan in the Spring. GIAA has not yet finalised plans with departments for its audit and counter-fraud services in the 2022-23 financial year, but through these plans, the Agency will continue to support departments to identify and manage risks effectively, and to maximise efficiencies and savings to the Exchequer.

Red Diesel

Grahame Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Government's proposed reforms to the tax treatment of red diesel on (a) business costs, (b) business closures and (c) jobs.

Helen Whately: At Budget 2020, the Chancellor announced that the Government would remove the entitlement to use red diesel from most sectors from April 2022. This more fairly reflects the negative environmental impact of the emissions produced and helps to ensure that the tax system incentivises the development and adoption of greener alternative technologies. The Government recognised that this would be a significant change for some businesses and ran a consultation to gather information from affected users on the expected impact of these tax changes and make sure it had not overlooked any exceptional reasons why affected sectors should be allowed to continue to use red diesel. During the consultation period, the Government engaged directly with a wide variety of organisations from all parts of the UK. Following the consultation, the Chancellor announced at Spring Budget 2021 that the Government would grant further entitlements to use red diesel after April 2022 for a limited number of users. However, the Government did not believe that the case made by sectors that will not retain their red diesel entitlement outweighed the need to ensure fairness between the different users of diesel fuels and the Government’s environmental objectives.

Public Sector: Pay

Beth Winter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure public sector pay awards for 2022-23 are not below average private sector pay awards for the same period.

Beth Winter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office for Budget Responsibility's Economic and Fiscal Outlook March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of holding down nominal pay awards on the quality of public services, to include the impact of lower real pay on staff recruitment and retention.

Beth Winter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office for Budget Responsibility's Economic and Fiscal Outlook March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the length of time that can sustain a fall in real earnings in the public sector.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Government recognises that public sector workers play a vital role in the running of our economy, and in delivering our world class public services. Spending Review 2021 confirmed that public sector workers will see pay rises across the whole Spending Review period (22/23-24/25). Pay for most frontline workforces - including nurses, teachers and armed forces - is set through an independent Pay Review Body (PRB) process. They will consider a range of evidence when forming their recommendations, including the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people; the financial circumstances of government; the government’s policies for improving public services; and the government’s inflation target. They will consider the whole remuneration package of those working in the public sector when forming their recommendations, including substantially more generous pensions. The Government will carefully consider all recommendations from the Pay Review Bodies once their final reports are submitted.

Car Allowances

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to (a) review and (b) change the mileage rate authorised by HMRC.

Helen Whately: The Government sets the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) rates to minimise administrative burdens. AMAP rates aim to reflect running costs including fuel, servicing and depreciation. Depreciation is estimated to constitute the most significant proportion of the AMAP rate. Employers are not required to use the AMAPs rates. Instead, they can agree to reimburse the actual cost incurred, where individuals can provide evidence of the expenditure, without an Income Tax or National Insurance charge arising. Alternatively, they can choose to pay a different mileage rate that better reflects their employees’ circumstances. However, if the payment exceeds the amount due under AMAPs, and this results in a profit for the individual, they will be liable to pay Income Tax and National Insurance contributions on the difference. The Government keeps this policy under review.

Broadband: Finance

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made allocating £5bn announced for Project Gigabit.

Mr Simon Clarke: The 2021 Spending Review re-affirmed £1.2bn over four years as part of our landmark £5bn commitment to Project Gigabit. We are open to accelerating faster and further if the market can deliver more, building upon the 67% of gigabit-capable broadband coverage achieved to date, up from just 8% in July 2019. Project Gigabit will support the rollout of gigabit connectivity in the hardest to reach areas where we are working with industry to target a minimum of 85% coverage by 2025. We are making good progress; so far broadband providers have been invited to bid for contracts to upgrade up to 187,000 premises across Cumbria, Durham, Northumberland, Cambridgeshire, North Dorset and West Cornwall.

Money

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support the use of cash and increase access to cash machines.

John Glen: The Government recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, and remains committed to legislating to protect access to cash. From 1 July to 23 September last year, the Government held the Access to Cash Consultation on proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The Government’s proposals intend to support the continued use of cash in people’s daily lives and help to enable local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they can access deposit facilities. The Government received responses to the consultation from a broad range of respondents, including individuals, businesses, and charities. The Government has carefully considered responses to the consultation and will set out next steps in due course.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Rayners Lane Football Club

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with the Football Association on the decision of the Middlesex FA to exclude Rayners Lane FC from the final of the Middlesex Premier Cup; and if she will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will ask the Football Association to review the effectiveness, utility and accuracy of the its Whole Game System in the context of recent decisions to penalise Rayners Lane FC; and if she will make statement.

Nigel Huddleston: The policies and procedures for handling formal complaints within football are independent of the government.I would encourage Rayners Lane FC to submit a formal complaint to the FA and follow their complaints processes (including any procedures for appeal). If they are not satisfied with the response of the FA or require additional support, Sport Resolutions UK is an independent dispute resolution service available for sport in the UK.

Museums and Galleries

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support local art galleries.

Nigel Huddleston: The latest awards from the joint DCMS-Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund, announced on 17 March, will provide £4 million of new funding to improve displays, protect collections and make exhibitions more accessible. Over the past 20 years, the Fund has provided more than £48 million to over 400 projects and more than 370 museums and galleries are eligible for it.The Government has also confirmed an extension to the Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief for a further two years, until 31 March 2024. The rates have temporarily increased from 20% (for non-touring productions) and 25% (for touring productions) to 45% and 50% respectively. From 1 April 2023, these rates will be reduced to 30% and 35%, and will return to 20% and 25% on 1 April 2024.Art galleries may also benefit from The Museums and Galleries VAT Refund scheme, known as Section 33A, which allows eligible museums and galleries providing free admission to reclaim VAT.Our unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund has seen more than £1.5 billion awarded to around 5,000 organisations and sites. Over £100 million has gone to more than 200 museums and galleries across England through the CRF programme. This includes some of the most well-loved and culturally significant organisations within communities across England.

Football: Clubs

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will ask the Football Association to publish details of the number of cases of non-league football clubs penalised under player registration rules that have nonetheless been using the Whole Game System for player registration in each region of England; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Huddleston: The policies and procedures for player registrations within football are independent of the government.I would encourage anyone interested in player registrations and the Whole Game System to contact the FA in the first instance. If they are not satisfied with the response of the FA or require additional support, Sport Resolutions UK is an independent dispute resolution service available for sport in the UK.

Charities: Energy

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the (a) impact of the rise in the cost of energy on the charity sector’s ability to maintain services and (b) potential merits of providing energy grants to charity organisations.

Nigel Huddleston: We recognise that many organisations, including charities, are facing pressures due to the significant increases in global gas prices. The Government’s priority is to ensure costs are managed and supplies of energy are maintained.Extensive engagement continues at both a ministerial and official level on this situation. Though we do not anticipate a need for sector-wide support at this time, we will continue to work closely with the sector to monitor the impact of increased energy costs.

Telephone Systems: Rural Areas

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of switching off the Public Switched Telephone Network in 2025 on rural areas with poor broadband connectivity.

Julia Lopez: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services (the Public Switched Telephone Network’s replacement) require a minimum stable connection speed of just 0.5Mbps in order to function correctly, and voice-only services will still be available to consumers in the UK who do not wish to purchase a general internet connection. Thus, even in the small number of rural areas with poor broadband connectivity, the migration will not have an impact on most consumers’ ability to use digital landlines.More importantly, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration does not affect the universal service obligations set in the Electronic Communications (Universal Service) Order 2003 which require the designated providers to offer telephony services throughout the UK. BT and KCOM are therefore still required to maintain access to a range of telephony services as well as provide a series of special measures designed for users who have a disability.As a response to complaints from customers, BT announced this week that it will pause the forced migration of customers until new products are available that provide greater power resilience. For more information you can read the full announcement here.Whilst the upgrade of UK landlines from the PSTN to VoIP technology is an industry-led initiative, the government and Ofcom are working together to ensure consumers and sectors are protected and prepared for the upgrade process.As of September 2021, 99.6% of premises in the UK were able to access a decent broadband connection from either a fixed or a fixed wireless access broadband connection. Properties without a decent broadband connection may be eligible for a connection under the broadband Universal Service Obligation. The Government is also investing £5bn as part of Project Gigabit to ensure the hardest-to-reach areas in the UK receive coverage.

Telephone Systems

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of switching off the Public Switched Telephone Network on the resilience of the telecare device network to power-cuts.

Julia Lopez: The department is aware of the potential impact that the upgrade of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) could have on telecare devices. Following the migration to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, it is possible some telecare devices may have compatibility issues with the new network and others may need digital adaptors to continue to function correctly.In order to mitigate this risk, telecoms companies have established test laboratories to enable the manufacturers of telecare devices to test their equipment, ensuring it will work correctly following the transition to VoIP telephony, and to make the necessary arrangements to replace and adapt their technology if required. It is the responsibility of the telecare providers to ensure they have adequately tested their equipment.Whilst the upgrade is an industry led initiative, DCMS and NHSx have been working together to facilitate communication between telecoms providers and the telecare sector to ensure telecare users are prepared for the upgrades.Additionally, Ofcom has also issued guidance on how telecoms companies can fulfil their regulatory obligation to ensure that their VoIP customers have access to the emergency services during a power outage. This guidance was prepared following consultation with Ofgem and the industry, looking at data on the length and frequency of power outages among other factors.As a response to complaints from customers, BT announced this week that it will pause the forced migration of customers to improve the awareness and understanding of customers, as well as to continue to develop industry best practice in coordination with the government convened working groups. For more information you can read the full announcement here.

Football Governance Fan-led Review

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to include legislative proposals for the full implementation of the Fan Led Review of Football Governance in the forthcoming Queen’s Speech.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government has endorsed the principle that football requires a strong, independent regulator to secure the future of our national game. We are working at pace to consider the recommendations of the Fan Led Review, and determine the most effective way to deliver an independent regulator. The response to the review, including next steps, will be issued in the coming weeks.

Government Departments: Internet

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she has plans to bring forward a UK cloud strategy.

Julia Lopez: In November 2021, DCMS published the National Data Strategy Mission 1 Policy Framework: Unlocking the value of data across the economy, which provides a framework for government action to set the right conditions to make private and third sector data more usable, accessible and available. The Framework identifies seven priority areas for action, three of which contribute to the goal of supporting the development of data sharing infrastructure within the UK. One of these is particularly focused on how the government can support the development of infrastructure that promotes wider economy data sharing for research and development purposes, which could include cloud services.The recently formed Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) in the Cabinet Office is also working on standardising the approach that government organisations take to the use of cloud services and data hosting.

Internet: Older People

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent estimate she has made of the number of pensioners in England who live in a property not connected to the internet; and what support will be made available to those pensioners when BT close down Public Switched Telephone Network phone lines and move to a digital network service only in 2025.

Julia Lopez: Ofcom’s Adult Media Use and Attitudes research published in 2021 found that 18% of those aged 65 and over did not have internet access at home.Voice-only services will remain available to consumers in the UK following the migration meaning those who do not wish to purchase an internet connection will still be able to access telephone services.Further, the PSTN migration does not affect the universal service obligations set in the Electronic Communications (Universal Service) Order 2003 which require the designated providers to offer telephony services throughout the UK. BT and KCOM are therefore still required to maintain access to a range of telephony services as well as provide a series of special measures designed for older or vulnerable users.

Women and Equalities

Autism: Equality

Fay Jones: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help ensure equality and freedom from discrimination for people with autism.

Gillian Keegan: In July 2021, we published a new all-age autism strategy that set out our commitments to address the inequalities autistic people experience. These include poorer health outcomes and a 16 year life expectancy gap. As part of this, we have provided over £13 million to improve access to diagnosis, including through testing ways to reduce waiting times and expanding a pilot that is identifying autistic children and young people earlier on in life. To improve inclusion of autistic people, we have also provided £600,000 to train many more educational staff across England, and we will launch an autism public understanding initiative this year.